Prices
Prices and stock come from each retailer's website. Check with the store before you buy.
More from this distillery: All Kanosuke whiskies and prices
About
What it is
The debut single malt from Kanosuke Distillery, released in 2021 at cask strength, 58%. Distilled between 2017 and 2018 and matured a minimum of three years before vatting. Non-chill filtered, no colour added. It sold by lottery in Japan and went to 1,200 bottles in the US.
Where it comes from
Kanosuke sits on the coast at Hioki in Kagoshima, built in 2017 by Komasa Jyozo, a shochu producer with a long history in the area. Single malt distilled and matured entirely on site, no imported component. The distillery publishes detailed production information, which is not the norm among Japanese craft producers.
How it's made
The key to it is the wood. Komasa Jyozo pioneered cask aging rice shochu with a product called Mellowed Kozuru, and Kanosuke re-chars those American white oak casks and fills them with whisky. President Yoshitsugu Komasa has described the re-charred shochu casks as behaving closer to virgin oak, which is why the whisky reads far older than three years. The distillery ran all three of its copper pot stills to produce the spirit, using unpeated malt.
What to expect
Prunes, dates, figs, orange and a strong sawmill note, which sounds odd and works. The palate is oaky and spiced with ginger and cinnamon, finishing long and chocolatey. At 58% it needs water. It won Double Gold and Best of Class for Japanese whisky at the 2022 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
How it compares
Against the 2021 Second Edition, released five months later, that one is built on first-fill bourbon barrels rather than shochu casks and comes out fruitier and more conventional. If you want to understand what Kanosuke is actually doing, drink them side by side. Against the Double Distillery blend, the single malts are more intense and much harder to find.
