Showing posts with label Sakurao. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sakurao. Show all posts

Friday, 1 July 2022

Togouchi & Sakurao "core range" Single Malt Japanese Whisky releases [Tasted #578 - 579]

Almost 12 months ago, we took a look on the current state of the Japanese whisky market, including tasting a number of new releases from an exciting wave of newer Japanese distilleries producing proper (i.e. distilled-in-Japan) Japanese whisky. 

One of those whiskies was Sakurao's 1st Release Cask Strength, which was particularly interesting as it marked the first whisky from Sakurao Distillery (formerly Chugoku Jozo) to be distilled in Japan. Previously, they'd been producing Togouchi whisky - aged in Japan, but distilled in Scotland / Canada. I mentioned that the distillery had (somewhat confusingly) also released a new, Japanese-distilled Togouchi, but at the time it was for the domestic market only.

Fast forward to 2022, and Sakurao Distillery have now released their "core range", regular line-up of both Sakurao & Togouchi - both now available in Hong Kong.


Whilst distilled at the same distillery, Togouchi is aged for more than 3 years in a disused railway tunnel in the forest (Hiroshima mountains) , in ex-Bourbon barrels. Sakurao, on the other hand, is aged in Sakurao, seto Island Sea, in 4 different cask types (ex-Bourbon, ex-Sherry, American Oak & Mizunara).

First releases (especially when single casks) are always fun, but they're not always representative of the distillery's ambitions, or intentions for a core product, so I was excited to dive in and see what these approachable (43%) core/regular releases had in store...


Sakurao Single Malt Japanese Whisky (43% ABV, at least 3yo, Sakurao Japan, $1,100HKD available from AFTrade)
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Colour: Golden straw.

Nose: Honeycomb, ginger tea and orange cake

Palate: Honey toast, BBQ-singed oranges, and peach tea, followed by a little vanilla and woodsmoke.

Finish: Long, with vanilla shortbread notes followed by fresh peaches.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 88/100. A solid showing for a first core release - and a very solid competitor to other new distillery releases around this price point. 


Togouchi Single Malt Japanese Whisky (43% ABV, at least 3yo, Sakurao Japan, $1,100HKD available from AFTrade)
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Colour: Pale straw.

Nose: Green bananas, banana chews and minty peas.

Palate: More banana chews, intertwined with notes of rockmelon & vanilla ice cream.

Finish: Medium in length, with a fresh apple crispness.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 89/100. Another solid showing. This is one of those whiskies where you say "you know what? Yeah, it's on the younger side, but it's just super drinkable and tasty." A worthwhile pickup for anyone who wants to see what the future of Japanese whisky could look like.


As with previous (and no doubt future) Sakurao Distillery releases, AFTrade (who provided these bottles for review) are distributing and selling these in Hong Kong. Well worth a look.

Cheers,
Martin.
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Saturday, 21 August 2021

Sakurao 1st Release Cask Strength Single Malt Japanese Whisky [Tasted #534]

Following our reviews of the Komagatake x Chichibu "Malt Duo" & Kanosuke First Edition, as part of our look into the current state of Japanese whisky, we're moving onto another exciting new First Release - Sakurao "1st Release Cask Strength Single Malt Japanese Whisky".


Seemingly continuing the trend of Japanese distilleries locating themselves in picturesque locales, Sakurao Distillery is located in the town of Sakurao, on the coast of Hiroshima facing the historic Itsukushima Shrine and its "floating Torii gate" off Miyajima Island. Now sure, location doesn't necessarily dictate the quality of the whisky, but a location like this does make the distillery pretty accessible for tourists, which can only be a good thing for both the distillery and Japanese whisky in general.

What's interesting about Sakurao (formerly Chugoku Jozo) is that they've actually being producing whisky for several years (as well as gin) - but until establishing Sakurao Distillery, they weren't distilling it in Japan. The "Togouchi" brand (which many would know as that short, rounded bottle containing Scottish / Canadian whisky aged in a former railway tunnel in Hiroshima) made up the entirety of the company's whisky, but now they're distilling both malt and grain right in Japan.

(The excellent Nomunication blog has a detailed write-up on the topic which is worth a read.)

Somewhat confusingly, they've actually launched two Japanese-distilled single malt brands - Sakurao (which I've tasted below), and Togouchi single malt, a domestic-only product for Japan. So as it stands, "Togouchi" is both a Japanese-distilled single malt brand, and a world blended whisky brand! The former is matured at the coastal distillery, the latter in the aforementioned Togouchi railway tunnel.

Photo credit: Sakurao Distillery


Confusion aside, we applaud any Japanese whisky producer who wants to "go legit", so let's see how their first release stacks up...


Sakurao 1st Release Cask Strength Single Malt Japanese Whisky 2021 (54% ABV, 3yo, Sakurao Japan, $2,080HKD available from AFTrade)
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Colour: Rich amber-honey.

Nose: Sandalwood, quite active oak, dark chocolate & orange peel

Palate: Sweet, creamy vanilla essence (intense - almost vanilla-pod like), milk chocolate drops, then a subtle earthy smoke forms, and sticks around. There's chocolate raspberries, cherries, and a little salinity.

Finish: Medium in length, with the sweet choc-cherry notes running through to the end.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 89/100. If I'm honest, I haven't loved many of the Togouchi blended whiskies I've tried (although their new Coffee liqueur is pretty tasty, and a steal at $168HKD). This Japanese distilled Sakurao though is very enjoyable, and shows a lot of promise for what's to come.




Thanks to AFTrade Hong Kong (importers / distributors of all Sakurao spirits in HK) who provided the whisky for review.

Cheers,
Martin.
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Thursday, 12 August 2021

What is "Japanese Whisky" these days?

If you go back 10 or so years, the term "Japanese whisky" generally meant (to most whisky drinkers) Yamazaki or Hibiki. Maybe for some well-versed drinkers, Miyagikyo, Mars Komagatake or Yoichi. Hardcore enthusiasts were probably aware of whiskies like Hanyu and Karuizawa, but they certainly weren't known outside of a core group of enthusiasts.

Back then, these whiskies were all relatively accessible and comparatively well-priced (yes even the Karuizawas). More or less every Dan Murphy's stocked Yamazaki 12 (at well under $100AUD/bottle), and almost every decent Japanese bottle shop (and even Japan's airports) stocked age-statement Suntory and Nikka whiskies at incredibly fair prices. You could walk into most (good) Japanese whisky bars and try a selection of Ichiro's Malt Cards Series for less than you'd pay for a dram of Lagavulin 16 today.


Then in 2015 a man in a hat said the Yamazaki Sherry Cask 2013 was the best whisky in the world, and everyone lost their mind. Now sure, this was far from the first award ever given to a Japanese whisky (Hibiki 21 for example had won "World's Best Blended Whisky", at the arguably much-more-relevant World Whiskies Awards, several times before 2015), but it did seem to be the catalyst for a barrage of hype, price hikes and scarce availability that continues today.


Some might say the hatted man simply shone a brighter light on what was already an incredibly high quality spirit (and they'd be right), but however you look at it, the hype started building, and casualties followed. In the coming years, Nikka discontinued their beloved age statement single malts (and later, many of their much-loved blends), Suntory temporarily halted favourites like Hibiki 17 and Hakushu 12, and the prices of pretty much all remaining Suntory and Nikka age statement (and NAS for that matter) whiskies skyrocketed. 

...and that's not even mentioning whisky from closed Japanese distilleries (to see how things are going there, just check out these auction prices of a "full deck" of Ichiro's Malt Cards Series from 2015, 2019 and 2020 respectively).


After a few years came the the wave of what many have termed "fake Japanese Whiskies" - those which took advantage of loose legislation in Japan which meant that producers could (and still can, for now) bottle whisky made from 100% imported spirit such as Scotch or Canadian whisky, and sell it as "Japanese Whisky" domestically and around the world. 

Again, the use of non-Japanese distilled spirit isn't a new thing. Nikka for example had been thought to be using Ben Nevis (which they own) in their hugely popular "Nikka from the Barrel", for years, but the rise in Japanese whisky popularity in the past 5 years has seen a big increase in other overpriced, opaque/ambiguous bottlings calling themselves "Japanese", often with samurai or other imagery, with absolutely no guarantee as to where the spirit originated. 

(For the record, I have no problem with the practice of imported spirit being bottled and sold by Japanese companies, and companies like Nikka who are willingly being transparent about the issue should be applauded. My issue is with those being deliberately deceptive, trying to "fool" their customers into thinking the whisky was distilled in Japan when it wasn't.)


More recently though, we've seen a ray of hope emerge - "proper" Japanese whisky from new or newly-expanded distilleries/brands, producing unique, Japanese-distilled spirit, and in the last few years (and especially the last 12 months), we've seen the first whisky releases from many of these start to emerge.

With thanks to our friends at AFTrade Hong Kong, we're going to feature a few of these whiskies over the coming week, with detailed tasting notes and some background into each distillery. Specifically, we'll be trying:
(Links to the articles will be added as they're posted)

We hope these posts give you some insight into these new, exciting Japanese distilleries and a little taste of things to come from Japanese whisky in the future. If you have any thoughts of your own on these whiskies (or the Japanese whisky scene in general) please leave them in the comments below!

Kanpai,
Martin.
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