Yamazaki Golden Promise 2024 Edition

Features

Description

The Yamazaki Golden Promise 2024 Edition is a limited release Japanese single malt from the2024 Tsukuriwake Selection, a collection created by the House of Suntory to demonstrate how individual choices in raw materials, peat, distillation and maturation can dramatically alter the character of Yamazaki and Hakushu whisky.

For this expression, Yamazaki turns its attention to the very beginning of whisky production: the barley itself. The whisky is composed using Golden Promise barley, a celebrated variety first grown in Scotland during the 1960's. Golden Promise became particularly prized by distillers for its flavour and malting qualities and today is used far less extensively than modern, higher yield barley varieties.

Suntory selected it specifically to create a richer, more malt forward style of Yamazaki. The Golden Promise spirit is matured in American oak casks, bringing vanilla and sweetness to the naturally rich malt character. Rather than the incense and exotic spice associated with Yamazaki's Mizunara releases, Golden Promise leans towards sweet malt, honey, vanilla, orange and custard.

Bottled at 48% ABV, this is a fascinating side of Yamazaki and a particularly interesting release for collectors interested in the raw materials and production techniques behind Japanese whisky. Tasting Notes Colour: Barley gold. Nose: Sweet and distinctly malty, opening into vanilla and honey with an elegant, almost perfumed character.

Palate: Rich and full-bodied. Sweet malt is joined by creamy custard and orange marmalade, with the American oak adding vanilla and gentle wood spice. Finish: Long, sweet and fruit-driven, with lingering citrus and malt. Technical Details Distillery: Yamazaki DistilleryProducer: House of SuntoryCountry: JapanWhisky Type: Single Malt Japanese WhiskyBarley: Golden PromiseCask Type: American OakEdition: 2024 EditionCollection: Tsukuriwake Selection 2024ABV: 48%Bottle Size: 700mlAge Statement: Non-Age StatementRelease: Limited Edition Why Its Special Most conversations around Yamazaki understandably focus on Mizunara oak and cask maturation.

Golden Promise flips that conversation around. Here, the point of difference comes before the whisky even reaches a barrel. Suntory deliberately selected an older barley variety for its flavour characteristics, then paired it with American oak to emphasise its naturally rich, malty and sweet profile.

It makes Golden Promise an unusually transparent demonstration of just how much the choice of barley can influence the finished whisky. As one of only four expressions in the 2024 Tsukuriwake Selection, alongside Yamazaki Islay Peated Malt, Yamazaki Mizunara 18 Year Old and Hakushu Peated Malt 18 Year Old, it also forms part of a particularly interesting chapter in Suntory's modern whisky making story.

For Yamazaki collectors, this isn't simply another limited edition label.Golden Promise is essentially a study in one of whisky's most fundamental ingredients and proof that the story can start long before the cask.