David Shaw

9.2

Aka Batchelor’s Button, 300 cases made. Dense to opaque purple-red. Oak and a hint of eucalyptus on the nose initially. Red fruit - raspberry, cherry - followed by seed tannins on finish. Needs time to open. Black currant and black cherry flavors strengthen after 90 minutes, seed tannins settle, less muddy. — 6 months ago

Bob McDonald

9.2

I bought this for the winter months and finished the last of it over the weekend. This is a blended malt named in honour of Masataka Taketsuru, the father of Japanese Whisky. He was the first Japanese who mastered Whisky making in Scotland and brought this expertise back to Japan. It was an incredibly pure and rich Whisky with a certain smokiness. I don’t drink enough Whisky to know the difference but this could easily have been Scotch to my palate. 43% ABV. — 2 years ago

Matthew Cohen

9.5

On open ....Glorious 2015 fruit. Black cherries. Spice. Maybe a kiss of licorice. Long sweet finish. Super tasty but not super complex at this point. Integrated tanins. Crazy silky on the palate. ... after an hour there Are sick flowers peeking out from under the covers. Candied lilacs ? Palate getting sick and more complex. Like this concentrated licorice flower on the finish Odd because it doesnt present as tannic or woody like most wines that are too young. ... 2.5 hours in this is much more serious. Like a brooding teenager a bit. More young and correct cherries. More apparent structure. Tanins are more present. Bizarre. Almost like a Benjamin button wine a bit. — 5 years ago

David Shaw

9.3

300 cases made. Ruby red, very good clarity, moderate to heavy pigment extraction. Rich flavor profile, slightly oily with black currant, cherry, raspberry notes in mouth. Light mouth coating tannins on finish. Mint and herb aftertaste. Nice complexity though fruit intensity seems lighter than tannin and alcohol levels. I like the acidity, not too low or high. Still highly ageable overall. After one hour, fruit expression intensifies, so decant at least that long — 6 months ago

Ed Tracy

9.2

Not the 17 year (as far as the label indicates)? Pure Malt with white label. Great, a shade less so than the black-label Pure Malt. — 2 years ago

with Rebecca

David Kline

9.4

Medium Dark amber unctiousness. So pleasant; apricot with peach weight decadence meets drizzled caramel and baked apple that brings pine forest fire sharply, hot and precise, before grilled yellow peppers and lava salt unfold to daffodil delicate and ethereal. Nose of golden tears. You drink in acanthus long before your sip; gum Arabic, hot orange honey and graphite. Mocha tobacco, bourbon barrel aged grappa, smoke of charred pit pig fat, roasted Tabasco pepper, and cinnamon oil and green olive grapple over cracked black pepper, anise seed, lavender oil, oregano oil and charred orange peel. Disturbs the mind in its swing from darkness to light, from life to death and finally rebirth. Volcanic and chaotic, but ripe for life and ultimately reverberating in possibility. #nikka #nikkawhisky #nikkapuremalt #taketsuruwhisky #thenikkawhiskydistillingco #whisky #japan #japanesewhisky #nippon #nipponwhisky #masetakataketsuru #yoichi #miyagikyo #whiskey — 4 years ago

with Courtney

Anna Vocaturo

10

Black currant, forest floor, button mushroom, cranberry. Not only do I love the people who make this wine, I love everything Cristom does- time after time this wine never disappoints. I want to drink this with every holiday meal! #oregonpinotnoir @cristomwine #cristom #willamettevalley — 5 years ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.0

1970 vintage. 375ml format. Decanted and tasted immediately and after two hours. Fairly light color. Light-medium body. Aromas and flavors of cherry cola, black truffle, tenderly flat-grilled button mushrooms and Tootsie Rolls. Mysterious. Didn't seem to improve in the glass. 10.13.23. — 6 months ago

Aaron Tan

9.1

“Remarkable when good. Almost always rustic. Let’s see how the bottle opens up tonight.”

DC’s comment pretty much sums up my somewhat limited experience with the wines of Lorenzo Accomasso, and evidently this bottle has done little to change our opinion. While it was certainly the most complex number of the night as it was constantly evolving with air, the level of volatile acidity in the 13’ Riserva Rocche dell’Annunziata was really testing my limits. Having said that, if my more extensive experience with the wines of Musar is of any relevance, this is bound to do a Benjamin Button and freshen up with another decade in the cellar.

Opened some 5 hours before our tasting session, it was all dark and brooding in the first pour. Plums, mocha, spiced meat, and leather aromas, all enveloped in a rather pesky sheen of acetone. Subsequent pours seemed to bring more elegance with aromas of dark red cherries, licorice, dusty rose petals, and even hints of iodine developing. The acetone note was somewhat tamer later in the night, though still very much discernible. The palate mirrors the nose - all dark fruits, leather, tar, sweet spices, and a touch of VA warmth at the start; more red-fruits, licorice, and heaps of black tea by the end of the night. Concentrated and beautifully textured, with fine yet austere tannins. Overall, a bottle I’m grateful to drink and ponder, but best to keep others under locks for another decade. — 8 months ago

.

9.0

Definitely still in its drinking window, As is often said to be the case with older zin & zin blends, however, it’s more like a claret than a zinfandel. Subdued fruit notes are woven with earth, button mushroom, and black tea, atop silky smooth tannins. Just a wisp of spice on the close. A nice way to start off a few 25th anniversary year wines. — 5 years ago