Product description
Suntory Old was launched in 1950 and was the company best-selling whisky for the years to come.
Shinjiro Torii created the whisky (including the label design) in 1940 but timing was not really good for such product launch. Suntory Old was in fact old whisky, the original ad stated that the whisky was “carefully distilled from Golden Melon barley and aged for 8 to15 years in oak sherry casks”. On the original Suntory Old label Kotobukiya Ltd was stated as a whisky producer (the company name was changed to Suntory by Keizo Saji in 1963). At some point Suntory Old had an astonishing 86% market share in similarly priced whisky in Japan. Its sales went form one million cases in 1970 to record-setting 12.4 million cases in 1980. The whisky is currently marketed as ‘The Taste of Japanese Tradition’.
Nose: apple blossom, vanilla, honey, caramel, peaches, orange peel, banana bread, hints of malt, and oak shavings.
Palate: sweet, brown sugar, vanilla, apples, oranges, peaches, dash of mixed spice, and delicate oaky notes.
Finish: medium long, fruity and spicy, with notes of citrus zest, vanilla, lemon pepper, cinnamon, ginger and oak.