Karuizawa 1984 Carpe Koï Serie Cask:4021 64.5% 1984

Professional reviews

Serge Valentin (92)

Colour: rich amber. Nose: starts on a lot of wood smoke and chocolate, a part of which may come from the very high strength. Then we have more red berries (jams) and a growing medicinal side, between some old style cough medicine and embrocations, but all that remains discreet. I’m having a little trouble because of the high alcohol, but that’s probably me. With water: gets as smoky as an Islay! Almost… Other than that, I love the touches of walnuts, damp earth and leather polish (from Mr Bond’s DB5, of course - no that was no product placement). Mouth (neat): it’s frightening that I can sip this without water, isn’t it? Indeed, it’s this baby isn’t unquaffable, but of course it’s a big boy, heavily concentrated, ridden with oak oils and thick spicy notes plus a lot of dark chocolate from the best Swiss makers’. But let’s not push our luck any further… With water: less sherried, more fresh and fruity, which came unexpected. Cointreau and ginger liqueur, wee touches of rum, lemon zests and black pepper. As often, the mouth feel became creamier and slightly rounder with water. Mind you, there’s even a little honey! Finish: long, sweeter. Chutney and crystallised ginger and a peat-smoky aftertaste. Comments: it’s really fun to play with this baby, a pipette and a little water. You can get at least ten different whiskies - yeah, yeah, all for the same price. Anyway, quality’s very high, as expected. I remember I once had a 1984 that was bottled by the previous owners around 2005, it wasn’t as brilliant as this one but, according to my notes, it was unusually smoky as well.

Words of Whisky (90)