Shinobu Single Malt Small Batch

What it is

A small batch single malt released under the Shinobu name from Niigata, bottled at 43%. Shinobu is a Shin Group brand, built around master blender Ken Usami and a mizunara finishing programme.

Where it comes from

Read this one carefully. Shin Group states across its range that the whisky is selected from distilleries around the world, matured in ex-sherry and ex-bourbon casks, then finished in mizunara in Japan. That's explicit for the blended and pure malt bottlings.

Shinobu Distillery in Niigata received its whisky licence around 2017 and does produce its own spirit, which appears in newborn releases. Whether a given single malt bottling is that spirit or sourced malt finished in Japan is not something we can settle from the sources available, and the distinction matters enormously. We'd want a producer statement naming the distillery before treating this as Japanese whisky under the Japan Spirits and Liqueurs Makers Association standard.

How it's made

Niigata sits on the Sea of Japan and is known for snow, rice, sake and very soft water. Usami came to whisky from brewing, having run one of the first bottle-conditioned beer operations in Japan. Across the Shinobu range, ex-sherry and ex-bourbon maturation with a mizunara finish is the house method. Small batch means a limited number of casks, so expect variation between releases.

What to expect

Fuller than the Shinobu blends, which are notably pale and light. Malt sweetness, dried fruit and nuts from the sherry influence, then the sandalwood and incense character mizunara gives. Reasonably soft at 43%.

How it compares

Against Shinobu Blended Mizunara, this is all malt and has more body. Against Shinobu Newborn, that's unambiguously the Niigata distillate and this isn't clearly either way. Against Hatozaki Pure Malt, another Japanese-finished world malt, the approach is similar and Kaikyo is clearer about what it's doing.