Prices
Prices and stock come from each retailer's website. Check with the store before you buy.
More from this distillery: All Fuji (Kirin) whiskies and prices
About
What it is
The first release in Kirin's Fuji range, out in April 2020, bottled at 46%. A single grain whisky from Fuji Gotemba Distillery, meaning all the grain whisky in it comes from one place.
Where it comes from
Kirin states the Fuji range is made exclusively from whisky produced at Fuji Gotemba. Everything from mashing to bottling happens on site, which is what the Japan Spirits and Liqueurs Makers Association standard asks for. No imported whisky.
How it's made
This is the genuinely unusual part. Fuji Gotemba produces three distinct styles of grain whisky using three different still configurations: a light style from column stills in the Scottish manner, a medium style from a kettle still, and a heavy style from a doubler setup borrowed from American bourbon production. Very few distilleries anywhere run all three. The distillery opened in 1973 as a Kirin, Seagram and Chivas joint venture, which is how that spread of technique ended up in one place in Shizuoka. Master blender Jota Tanaka combines the three into the finished whisky.
What to expect
Floral to start, then pear tart, candied chestnut and orange peel, moving into poached pear, apple compote and dark chocolate. It has more body and more going on than the word grain usually implies, and it's the bottle that changes people's minds about the category. Works neat, on ice, or in a highball.
How it compares
Against Suntory's Chita, the other well known Japanese single grain, Fuji is richer and more layered where Chita is lighter and cleaner. Both are standard compliant, so it's a straight comparison on style. Against Nikka Coffey Grain, Fuji has more structure and Coffey Grain has the softer, creamier texture. If you want to understand what grain whisky can do when someone takes it seriously, these three are the argument.
