(All of the below are Japan or export only releases) - EDITED FOR NEW AND SOLD BOTTLES
Very Olde St Nick Ancient Cask 15 - $200
Very Olde St Nick 23YO - $350
Evan William 23YO - $325
Old Man Winter Rye 18YO - $300
Four Roses Platinum - $250
Johnnie Walker 1820 - $350
Blanton’s Straight from the Barrel -$250
Van Winkle Lot B 12YO - $225
Most likely some of you have never seen some of the bottles listed. Please PM for pictures, if that’s helpful.
Just figured out how to attach pictures. Attaching some pix to give an idea of how these bottles look.
Some of you asked for some more info on the bottles, so here it is.
Very Olde St Nick was bottled by Willett and was only available in Japan. Good reputation for long aged bourbon. I would say this is a wine drinkers bourbon in that it doesn’t punch you in the face with high proof and with the age it’s rounded out the edges. Also, beyond the vanillin and other normal bourbon notes, you will get some tannins as well as distinct secondary notes of leather and cedar from the barrel. Interesting indeed and a nice night dram.
Evan Williams 23 is a wholly different from the St Nick’s above. It’s bottled at much higher proof (over 104 proof). I would almost equate this bottling to northern rhone as opposed to burgundy for St. Nick. Amazingly long finish and packed with flavor. Need to add water.
Willett single barrels releases are just amazing and simply one of the hottest commodity in bourbon today. All Japan only releases. To be frank, I think Willetts are better than Pappy…but that’s my humble opinion. All barrel proof so need to water down. If you think about it’s equivalent to getting 1 1/2 bottles when you brining it down to the right proof. Although, fun to drink it straight sometimes.
Old Ezra 15 and Virgin Bourbon 15 both 101 proof and really good bourbon. Only avail in Japan.
Old Man Winter 18 Rye is the one of the best 18YO ryes out there. To me it’s better than Sazerac 18 with more spice and higher concentration of flavor. This doesn’t say anything about what’s in the bottle but it’s prob one of the more difficult bottle to obtain. Just one batch and limited release in Japan only.
Lastly, only scotch on the list is JW 1820. It was released only in Japan a while back and contains 21YO scotches. This is the same bottle - http://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/P-578.aspx
Some of you asked bout the Four Roses Platinum. I forgot to mention about it in my previous post. This is a special bottling only for Japan. It has to be one of the smoothest bourbon I’ve tasted. The mouth feel on it is almost buttery. Strange as it may sound you will see when you taste it. Whenever I open this with friends, this is almost always the first bottle to disappear.
You maybe able to find the Four Roses Platinum if you look hard but others have disappeared from the market a long while ago. It’s funny because the Japan market was THE hottest bourbon market 15/20 years ago and still a very important market (Kirin own Four Roses and Suntory just bought Jim Beam). Literally, all the best bottles went straight there. I remember drinking AH Hirsh 16 for a song in Tokyo…
If I were you I’d find a good whisky bar and look for some hidden gems. My friend just came back and he told me that he killed a bottle of AH Hirsh 16 gold capsule for approx. $200 at a bar in Osaka. So the value’s still there. Plus, the exchange rate is now ridiculous, so go enjoy yourself and go drink some bottles we don’t see around here.
