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The Yamazaki 25 Year Old Mizunara is the first Yamazaki expression aged 25 years entirely in mizunara oak casks, announced in August 2025.
The Yamazaki 25 Year Old Mizunara is the most aged edition in the Yamazaki range to mature from start to finish in mizunara oak casks alone. Announced in August 2025 by House of Suntory, it tests a wood the distillery has used for eighty years but which rarely sustains such a long maturation without losing balance.
What it is
The Yamazaki 25 Year Old Mizunara originates at the Yamazaki distillery, founded in 1923 by Shinjiro Torii and recognized as Japan’s first commercial whisky distillery. It stands at the confluence of three rivers—the Katsura, the Uji, and the Kizu—in a valley near Kyoto known for its soft waters: a choice of terrain and climate that Torii deliberately wanted to differ from Scotland, in order to arrive at a whisky with its own character. The year following the founding, in 1924, Torii called upon Taketsuru Masataka, who had studied distillation in Scotland, to direct the facility: a choice that marked the way the distillery would refine its whiskies in the decades to follow.
At the distillery, a “Whisky Library” is open by appointment, preserving approximately seven thousand bottles of unblended single malt whisky, each with its own date and tasting notes: an archive that recounts, vintage after vintage, how Yamazaki’s character has changed wood after wood over more than a century of operation.
Mizunara oak enters the house’s history in the 1940s. It is a wood with a delicate grain and difficult to work, requiring at least a decade of maturation before yielding its distinctive trait: notes of sandalwood and incense that interweave with the rest of the aromatic profile. Until this release, the most aged Yamazaki expressions matured in mizunara—such as the Yamazaki 55 Years Old—had used it only in part, alongside other woods. The 25 Year Old Mizunara is the first to remain in mizunara from the first to the last day of its 25 years.
Why it matters
The recommended price communicated by House of Suntory is $7,500, with limited availability in selected markets. The bottle arrives in a hand-crafted wooden case, closed with kigumi, the Japanese interlocking technique that uses no nails: a detail designed to accompany the rarity of the wood used for aging, not simply packaging.
The point that distinguishes this release from other Mizunara expressions in the Yamazaki range remains the duration of maturation in a wood that is normally alternated with other oaks: 25 full years in mizunara represent, to date, the longest milestone ever reached by the distillery with this wood alone. The bottle does not arrive on its own: in August 2025 House of Suntory presented it alongside the Yamazaki 18 Year Old Mizunara, defining the two releases as the foundation of a new permanent line, the Mizunara Series, dedicated entirely to this wood.
What to look for in tasting
In the 2025 Whisky Advocate review, which assigned a score of 97 out of 100, the nose opens on incense, nutmeg over panna cotta, apricot, and cardamom sprinkled over a sweet cream. The palate brings white chocolate, sweetened milk, bitter orange marked by clove and kumquat, with the mature wood lingering long in the finish. Compared to the 18-year version of the same line, the mizunara notes prove deeper and sweeter, a sign of a wood that at this age has completed its work.
How to purchase shares of The Yamazaki 25 Year Old Mizunara on Collecto
On Collecto a bottle like this is not purchased in full: shares are purchased, a portion of its value, remaining part of a community that shares ownership of the asset. The detail page gathers the whisky’s profile, the share price, and the residual share available in real time; from there one proceeds to purchase in a few steps, with the asset held by Collecto on behalf of all owners. Those who wish to understand the mechanism beforehand can read Collecto’s guide; those who instead wish to browse other available assets can do so from the web app catalogue.
In this bottle you can read, more than in others, how much time a wood requires to truly develop its own character.
Discover The Yamazaki 25 Year Old Mizunara on Collecto
On Collecto you can purchase shares of The Yamazaki 25 Year Old Mizunara starting from €50, a way to take ownership of a portion of a rare bottle without purchasing it in full.
Frequently asked questions about The Yamazaki 25 Year Old Mizunara
What is mizunara oak and why is it considered rare?
It is a Japanese oak with a delicate grain and complex working, used by the Yamazaki distillery since the 1940s; it requires at least a decade of maturation to develop its character, composed of notes of sandalwood and incense.
How does it differ from other Yamazaki expressions matured in mizunara?
It is the first to remain in mizunara casks alone for all 25 years of aging: previous more aged releases, such as the Yamazaki 55 Years Old, had used mizunara only for part of the maturation.
How much does The Yamazaki 25 Year Old Mizunara cost?
House of Suntory communicated a recommended price of $7,500 at the time of launch, in August 2025, with limited availability in selected markets.
When was the Yamazaki distillery founded?
In 1923, by the will of Shinjiro Torii: it is Japan’s first commercial whisky distillery, built at the confluence of three rivers near Kyoto.
What score did it receive in tasting?
Whisky Advocate assigned it 97 points out of 100 in the review of the 2025 version, describing notes of incense, nutmeg, apricot, and cardamom on the nose.
How is the bottle’s packaging presented?
In a hand-crafted wooden case closed with kigumi, the Japanese interlocking technique that does not use nails.
