Ohishi Tokubetsu Reserve is the first ultra-premium release from Ohishi and it is, in a word, awesome. The Tokubetsu Reserve is a blend of first-fill sherry casks that encompass nearly three different decades of distillation. 29% of the whisky comes from 27-year-old casks, 35% comes from 10-year-old casks and 36% comes from 7-year-old casks.
This is the first time anything has been released from Ohishi that has any age details on it at all. That’s neither a good thing nor a bad thing because sherried Ohishi always delivers, it’s just something worth pointing out.
So how does a heavily sherried rice whisky that’s nearly a third 27 years old taste? Let’s find out in the Ohishi Tokubetsu Reserve review below!
Ohishi Tokubetsu Reserve Info
Region: Japan
Distiller: Ohishi
Mashbill: 100% Rice
Cask: ex-Sherry
Age: 7 Years Old (29% 27 year-old, 35% 10 year-old, 36% 7 year-old).
ABV: 40.5%
Cask Strength | Non-Chill Filtered | Natural Color
Price: $220*
Ohishi Tokubetsu Reserve Review
EYE
Rust
NOSE
Sherry and complex dark fruit (raspberries, strawberries and blackberries), vanilla, butterscotch, spice, graham crackers and light bits of rice sweetness, cocoa and ash.
PALATE
Sherry, complex dark fruit (raspberries, strawberries and blackberries), butterscotch, spice, graham crackers, ash, citrus, toffee and light notes of rice sweetness, cocoa, cinnamon and oak.
FINISH
Long fade of sherry, dark fruit, vanilla, rice sweetness, candy and citrus.
BALANCE, BODY & FEEL
Perfectly balanced, round body and a slick light-syrup feel.
OVERALL
Ohishi Tokubetsu Reserve is awesome. It’s a crisply balanced whisky that’s densely flavorful and aromatic. The aroma is a deep nose-full of intense sherry-heavy whisky notes paired with the lighter sweetness of a stellar sake. The flavor is a palate-full of dynamic dark fruity and rustic flavors paired against light candy-like sweetness notes. This is a whisky I could drink any day; Ohishi Tokubetsu Reserve is densely flavored but crisp enough that it doesn’t overwhelm.
SCORE: 93/100 (A)
