Distiller Notes
This is a whisky blended in the Scotch tradition and with Japanese precision. The malt is lightly peated and vatting is mostly ex-bourbon, balanced by the distillery’s unique variety of barrels. The nose is very fruity with apricots and dried fruits and a shy note of honey.
Sharing a great deal with Scotch in terms of production methods and ingredients, today’s hugely successful commercial market of Japanese Whisky owes much to the research of Masataka Taketsuru. In 1918, this Japanese national travelled to Scotland with the intention of studying organic chemistry but instead became fascinated with Scotch Whisky production. Similar to Scotch Whisky, Japanese Whisky also uses malted barley as the fermentation base and long-term aging in wooden barrels. However, the often-used Mizunara oak, rather than French or American oak, imparts uniquely spicy and citrus-like characteristics to a Japanese Whisky.