The media is going bananas! The reason, you ask? Whisky, of course! The Yamazaki 2016 Sherry Cask was released last Monday, and people are ecstatic. This is officially considered as the best whisky on the planet. In early 2015, it made headlines when the 2013 version was selected as the best in the world by The Whisky Bible 2015 and consequently sold out in lightning speed.

Last Monday, the Yamazaki 2016 Sherry Cask began to sell within only an hour after appearing on the dekantā website. A total of 5,000 bottles were produced, being bottled at 48%. The most noticeable difference between this bottle and its 2013 counterpart is mainly the fact that the youngest whisky in the blend has been aged for an extra two years – and that has never been known to hurt a blend.

This Yamazaki Sherry Cask 2016 is vatted from over 100 malt whiskies, with many of them having been used in the 2013 version. Unsurprisingly the 2013 release was selected as the best whisky in the world in 2014, so it’s obvious that you can expect a superb tipple. The oldest of Suntory’s casks are over twenty five years old! In typical Japanese fashion, Suntory is so obsessed with producing the very best that Shinji Fukuyo (Suntory’s chief blender and great grandson of Suntory’s founder, Shinjiro Torii), visits Spain every year to select the most perfect oak for his casks.

Shinji selects only the very finest oak that manages to hold an impeccable balance between oak and malt. We doubt that any other whisky maker could achieve this perfect balance. Each barrel is also charred to acquire that smoky flavor.

And the taste? A little less fruity than the 2013 vintage, rich in caramel, vanilla, and rum, with a beautifully broad palate. A hint of raisin creeps in, and perhaps cocoa, too. This bottle truly adheres to whisky drinkers’ high expectations.

Fukuyo himself says that this is not a blend for the novice, but for the dedicated whisky fan, who appreciates good whisky, not to mention whisky perfection. We only have a few bottles of this quality whisky, so grab it before it’s gone!