In what looks to be another leak via Amazon Japan, we now have our first look at Suntory’s third releases in The Essence of Suntory Whisky series.
The two bottles in the third release, and the details we know are below:
THE ESSENCE of Suntory Whisky Blended Japanese Whisky Rich Type
- 48% abv, 500ml, NAS
- A blend of whiskies aged in cedar-head casks from the Yamazaki Distillery
- Malt and grain whiskies
- Supposed to emphasize the richness and depth that comes with long-term aging
THE ESSENCE of Suntory Whisky Blended Japanese Whisky Clean Type
- 48% abv, 500ml, NAS
- A blend of whiskies aged in cedar-head casks from the Hakushu Distillery
- Malt and grain whiskies
- Emphasizing the cleanliness and refreshing cedar-head casks
So that’s a bit of a departure from what we saw with the first releases and second releases in THE ESSENCE of Suntory Whisky series. For starters, there’s only two bottles! We’re also now in NAS-land, with neither of the bottles having age statements. Which is a bit of a shame, because THE ESSENCE series have been Suntory’s only new major age-statement bottlings in recent years.
The official announcement of THE ESSENCE series has traditionally been January, so it may be a few more months before we hear anything from Suntory on these.
UPDATE 2019/10/29: Suntory has now officially announced these bottles. The release date is today!
Thanks to David at Ikebukuro’s Aloha Whisky for the tip!
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Hello,
Do you happen to know where they can be bought? Shinanoya?
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Hello Thomas, unfortunately I don’t know. The previous Essence series releases have (officially) been limited to Suntory’s bar customers only. So may be hard to find in retail.
HI Richard,
Got myself a couple of bottles and it seems that “Rich Type” may be a hidden treasure. According to the product detail in the box – [Rich Type] is an expert blend featuring malt whiskies from Yamazaki Distillery which have been aged for at least 12 years in white oak casks, followed by a second maturation of six or more years in Japanese cedar casks. These whiskies have been blended with Yamazaki malt whiskies aged for 18 years or longer in sherry and Mizunara cask, as well as Chita grain whiskies aged too for at least 18 years.
Had a sample of the Rich Type this past weekend. I liked it too! Hopefully I can do a proper review of it soon.