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
Released on 16 May 2023, the single malt in Kirin's Fuji range and the last of the three core expressions to arrive. Bottled at 46%. It came out alongside a 50th Anniversary Edition limited to 3,000 bottles, marking half a century of the Fuji Gotemba Distillery.
Where it comes from
Kirin states that the Fuji range is made exclusively from whiskies crafted at Fuji Gotemba. Distilled, matured and bottled on site in Shizuoka, no imported component. The distillery opened in 1973 as a joint venture between Kirin, Seagram and Chivas Brothers.
How it's made
Fuji Gotemba makes two distinct malt styles: a light, floral spirit the distillery has produced since it opened, and a fruitier, creamier spirit made with a more modern brewing and fermentation approach. Both go into this. Maturation is primarily ex-bourbon barrels, with beer casks and French oak wine casks adding floral and fruity layers on top. The beer cask component is unusual and reflects Kirin being a brewer first.
What to expect
Rich and fruity rather than heavy. Sweet, floral aromatics, then orchard and stone fruit with a creamy texture and gentle oak. It's more approachable than most Japanese single malts at this price and doesn't demand much work from you.
How it compares
Against Fuji Single Grain and Fuji Single Blended, this completes the set and shows the malt side of a distillery that built its reputation on grain. Against Yamazaki 12 or Hakushu 12, the Fuji malt is younger and lighter but also findable and sensibly priced, which counts for a lot right now. Against Kirin's older Fuji-Sanroku bottlings, the Fuji range is the newer, cleaner presentation of the same distillery.
