A long awaited release from Ichiro Akuto's Chichibu distillery - their first whisky, aged for three years. It was a hit at the 2011 Whisky Show and the slow boat from Japan finally deposited it on our shores in early 2012.
An excellent looking Hanyu, bottled by Ichiro Akuto as part of his Ichiro's Malt range. Beautifully coloured and quite pokey at 57.5% despite its age.
ONLY ONE BOTTLE PER CUSTOMER
A vatting of single malt from the Hanyu distillery built by Ichiro Akuto's grandfather with malt from the Chichibu distillery built nearby by Ichiro himself. A deliciously nutty dram.
Probably the oldest Hanyu yet to reach these shores, this 23 year old has been bottled at a whopping 58% abv, but remains quite approachable even at full strength. An evident sherry presence on the palate, without being domineering, and some delicious tropical fruits on the finish.
A smooth, appley Japanese blended malt, almost certainly comprised of Hanyu & Chichibu (where it was matured, vatted and bottled). In a move that will likely enrage the more pernickety of the lickspittle jobsworths at the SWA, this has included the supposedly-not-allowed-anymore 'pure malt' term on its label. Naughty!
Ulf Buxrud is an important figure in the whisky world, being one of the famous Malt Maniacs, and the author of the definitive book on the Rare Malt series. To have such a learned and committed whiskyphile turn his energies to the emerging Japanese whisky scene is very exciting - and this is be a fascinating read.
Here it is at last - the already legendary Karuizawa 1967 42yo from cask 6426. We've got less than 200 bottles of this one, and after Whiskyfun's humungous 95 point score, it's MAXIMUM 1 BOTTLE PER CUSTOMER.
A sensational Karuizawa from the famed 1981 vintage, this fantastic cask strength dram has been fully matured in a first fill sherry cask. Deep, rich and complex, with a wonderful mix of sweet and savoury aromas and flavours, this exceptional cask will further cement Karuizawa's reputation as Japan's finest distillery.
A very long-aged single grain whisky from the now-defunct Kawasaki distillery in Japan. This venerable spirit has been bottled as part of the wildly successful Ichiro's Choice range from Number One Drinks Co.