Akkeshi Usui Blended

What it is

The second release in Akkeshi's Twenty Four Solar Terms series and the first blend in it, out on 28 February 2021 at 48%. Usui means rain water and marks the point in the Japanese calendar when snow starts turning to rain.

Where it comes from

Akkeshi's blends are built differently to its single malts. The series blends combine imported new pot grain whisky, matured at Akkeshi for a minimum of three years in ex-bourbon, with the distillery's own peated malt. Because the grain isn't distilled in Japan, that puts these outside the Japan Spirits and Liqueurs Makers Association standard.

Akkeshi and its importers describe the composition openly, and the series is commonly sold as world blends. It's the retail end that muddles them with the single malts, since both carry the same distillery name and the same series branding.

How it's made

Akkeshi built itself on an Islay template when it started distilling in 2016: Forsyths pot stills, peated malt, and a foggy salt-air site on the far eastern coast of Hokkaido. It's one of the few Japanese distilleries cutting local peat, from the marshland surrounding it. Hokkaido mizunara is the signature cask, and the blends also use sherry, bourbon and wine wood. The distillery became the first craft whisky producer in Japan to obtain external HACCP certification, in December 2021.

What to expect

A sweet, aromatic peatiness is the note most often used for this one. Expect citrus and honey over campfire smoke, with the sandalwood character mizunara brings and a salty finish.

How it compares

Against the single malts in the same series, Boshu, Ritto, Seimei and Taisetsu, those are all Akkeshi spirit at 55%. Against the later blends like Daikan and Shosho, this is the first attempt and the series is generally agreed to have improved as it went. Being the second release overall, it's one of the more collected bottles in the set.