Review 225. Broadening the horizon, part 2: maze running through the Japanese whisky labyrinth

If there is one place that can arguably set its foot next to Scotland when it comes to whisky, in terms of approach, philosophy, attention to detail, craft and quality, it is very likely Japan. Of course when we’re talking tradition, provenance and history, you could argue that North America might be more of an ‘heir’, but whereas American immigrants from centuries ago brought with them the knowledge and insights about distilling from places like Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands, they used it to start new traditions based on those from their old countries, adapting to the climate, soil and crops that worked best in their new environment. So while the Americans did their own thing with their European distilling legacy, the Japanese took a different approach. Sure, they too have created their own whisky culture and tradition, but at the core it is based on meticulously studying the way of the Scots. We all know the story of Masataka Taketsuru who came to Scotland a century ago to work and learn the craft at various Scottish distilleries to take it with him back to Japan. After his return he teamed up with Suntory founder Shinjiro Torii to kickstart the whole Japanese whisky thing. After a falling-out,  Taketsuru and Torii parted ways again a few years later and Taketsuru went on to establish his Nikka whisky empire.

And from this little introduction,  you will probably have ticked a lot if not most of the boxes many of us are familiar with when we think about Japanese whisky: Suntory (of  Hibiki, The Chita and Yamazaki and Hakushu fame)? Check! Nikka (of Nikka from the barrel, Coffey Malt and Coffey Grain; Yoichi and Miyagikyo fame)? Check! By and large, that’s  what Japanese whisky was and still is to many of us, as that is what tends (tended) to be available. Not unlike Scotch, Japanese whisky went through ups and downs, becoming absolutely unfashionable at one point, and also not unlike Scotch, it became very fashionable again, leading to a spectacular boom in Japanese whisky roughly 15 years ago. Prices in the retail and secondary market alike skyrocketed, making a lot of the sought after stuff unobtanium. All the while, ‘anything goes’ pretty much described Japanese legislation on whisky, which essentially  meant there was reasonable cause a plenty  to be asking a few question about just how ‘Japanese’ some of the Japanese whiskies actually were.

Luckily, the renewed interest inspired a whole new generation to start making Japanese whisky – proper Japanese whisky (leading to a few who’ve gained whisky stardom like Shizuoka or Chichibu). And while many of these new wave of Japanese distilleries will often still be hard to find and expensive, Japanese whisky seems to have taken a new course. The recent  renaissance, I feel, also helped to pave the way to actually put together some guidelines and rules defining what Japanese whisky is and should be.  While by no means hammered down in legislation, a set of regulations was announced in 2021 by the JSLMA (Japanese Spirits and Liqueurs Makers Association). And while these guidelines are indeed just that: guidelines, they can be seen as a set of benchmarks to help protect and maintain certain standards regarding production, quality and provenance. Because until then it was all too easy to simply bulk import various blends, grains and malt from essentially anywhere (mainly American, Canadian and / or European stuff) into Japan, only to ‘upgrade it’ with a fancy shodo (Japanese calligraphy) on the label to milk a few buck from unsuspecting customers. Even if it’s just self-imposed, the charter describing  and defining  what Japanese whisky actually is sets  a new bar that should hopefully help Japanese whisky to finally get rid of its sometimes dubious reputation and background. And for the record: I absolutely love Nikka from the barrel – very affordable and absolutely decent quality. Even more so, I don’t really care if a good proportion of it comes from Ben Nevis and isn’t Japanese at all, as long as the end product is good. But that last bit is really important – the ‘end result being good’ bit, I mean. Over the years, I’ve just seen a few too many  dubious bottles of supposed Japanese whisky– essentially very similar to some of the bottom shelf supermarket blends but with a (sometimes significant) higher price tag slapped on the label, just because it’s (allegedly) Japanese whisky. I can of course only speak for myself, but it is (was) one of the main reasons why I never really took the plunge when it comes to Japanese whisky. They were either completely unaffordable, and for those I could afford, quite a few would require a 10 ft pole when dealing with them. A tarnished reputation is hard to get rid off after all.

While a clean slate was obviously important for the new wave of Japanese distilleries who were striving to put quality at the heart and centre of their whisky endeavours,  making them one of the driving forces of helping to qualify what Japanese whisky is and isn’t, I don’t think we can underestimate the importance of the two biggest fish in the Japanese whisky pond, or loch, or whatever, backing the principles and ideas behind it all. The fact that both Nikka and Suntory got on board with the guidelines and regulations, really helped to put the wind in the sails of it all.

I’ll likely revisit some of those Japanese classics at another time, but this week I want to focus on one of those new pioneering distilleries in Japan who are rapidly growing in name and fame…

Kanosuke single malt (48% ABV) and Kanosuke single malt 2022 ltd edition (59% ABV)

Kanosuke distillery (the ‘u’ is silent, sort of) is located in the Kagoshima prefecture in the south of Japan. Established in 2017, Kanosuke may be ‘new’ as a brand, but there’s years and years of tradition, provenance and skill behind the distillery dating back to the 1880’s. Before Kanosuke, there already was Hioki, which since 2020 is also used to produce  their grain whisky but is first and foremost also the home of ‘Mellowed Kozuru’ Shochu. Shochu, arguably even more than sake, is Japan’s indigenous drink and spirit of choice. If you want to take a deeper dive into the history and background of the distillery, I can only recommend you head over to Mac’s Kanpai Planet. Mac was actually involved in creating a grain whisky from Hioki/Kanosuke alongside Stefan van Eycken (author of ‘Whisky Rising’, regarded by many as THE standard work on Japanese whisky – Stefan is someone who’ll likely forget more about Japanese whisky than I’ll ever learn) and Roland K Ng, Kansoukes manager for the American market, leading to them creating a Triptych of grain whiskies to be released as part of Stefan’s legendary ‘Ghost’ whisky series.

Kanosuke single malt. 48% ABV, UCF, 2023 release. Matured in ex shochu and American white oak casks. App. €85 / £78

Nose

Very fruity – peach, apricot, kiwi – and zesty with hints of mandarin and orange peel. There is something bready and yeasty in the mix too. Over time this becomes quiet dominant, only to mellow out again, re-establishing a lovely balance between the grain and fruit notes. Quite nice!

Palate

Ooh! The gentle fizzy – effervescent arrival caught me a bit by surprise, and I have to say I like it. Sweetness is the dominant impression, coming from a mix of fruity sweetness and confectionery notes. That grainy-bready-yeasty note is still there, but more at a ground level, lying underneath providing some depth on which those lighter sweet notes can build on.

Finish

Medium long, dried fruit, somewhat peppery.

Kanosuke 2022 limited edition single malt. Unpeated blend from whiskies distilled between 2017 and 2019, matured in barrels with sherry casks as key. 59% ABV, unchill filtered, app. €150 / £130

Nose

Quite closed. I’m picking up an ever so slightly dirty – sulphury note with elements of dark, syrupy berry notes and a suggestion of toffee apples. After adding a fair amount of water those dense fruit notes almost come crawling out of the glass. In fact, this is almost liquid marmalade!

Palate

Dense, viscous, treacle syrup… it’s so dense it takes a while for the high ABV to catch on and make itself known. It also puts a bit of a lid on things, so again: adding water is recommended as it keeps things plenty oily- viscous in taste and texture, but it allows room for  notes of stewed fruit, toffee and treacle with a dash of salinity in the mix.

Finish

Long, warming and clinging.

Final thoughts

The regular release shares similarities with its casks strength sibling, but due to the emphasis on sherry casks in the latter, they are also quite different. The regular at 48% ABV offers an interesting, very enjoyable whisky with a pleasantly surprising development from the nose on to the palate. Yes, it’s quite young, but by no means it comes across as too youthful or underaged. It’s not an earth shattering whisky – nonetheless  really enjoyable as said -  and if you see what it already delivers in terms of flavour and quality at such a young age (the oldest components can’t be more than 5 or 6 years old), only great things await, I’m sure.

The cask strength expression comes across as a very ‘Scottish’ Japanese whisky. There’s a lot of cask influence, yet it never leans into sherry monster territory. What is though, is a very well made whisky. On a personal level I wouldn’t have minded if the casks  would have been slightly less dominant, but there’s no mistaking the quality in this one. There is – luckily -  still enough youth and spirit character present, which I feel adds an almost playful lightness to it. Would I be tempted to fork out the €150 this sells for, though? I’m inclined to say no, as I feel that I could find similar vibes and experiences elsewhere – from Scotch, English or European whiskies even, that are considerably cheaper.  Nonetheless, I’m hugely grateful to the legend that is Nic – whisky 101 – who did and provided me with both of these samples (and then some!) because this is already good stuff and there is no doubt in my mind that we'll be witnessing some absolutely stellar whiskies from them in the near future.