Prices
Prices and stock come from each retailer's website. Check with the store before you buy.
More from this distillery: All Togouchi and Sakurao whiskies and prices
About
What it is
An 8 year old blended whisky under the Togouchi name, from Sakurao Brewery and Distillery in Hiroshima, formerly Chugoku Jozo. Bottled at 40%.
Where it comes from
Chugoku Jozo distilled whisky from 1938 to 1989, then stopped. It came back in 2003 with Togouchi, built on imported Scottish malt and Canadian grain, matured in a disused railway tunnel in the Chugoku mountains and bottled in Japan. Under the Japan Spirits and Liqueurs Makers Association standard, which requires distillation in Japan, that doesn't qualify.
The company opened Sakurao Distillery in 2018 and reformulated the Togouchi blended range from 2024 to use only its own spirit. An 8 year old sits right on the edge: by 2026 Sakurao could just about support one, but bottles on shelves now may well be the older imported formulation. Check the label rather than assuming, and treat this as the one Togouchi where the answer could legitimately go either way.
How it's made
The tunnel at Akiota-Togouchi is a former railway bore through the mountain. Constant temperature and humidity year round produce a slower, more even maturation without the seasonal swings a normal warehouse gives. Blending and bottling happen in Hiroshima.
What to expect
Light and easy. Vanilla, honey and soft orchard fruit with a little oak spice, finishing short and clean. It's built for mixing and highballs rather than for study, and at 40% it doesn't pretend otherwise.
How it compares
Against the Togouchi 9 and 15, the same story with more time in the tunnel. Against Togouchi Single Malt, that's unambiguously Sakurao's own Japanese distillate. Against Sakurao Single Malt, the sibling brand matured by the sea rather than under the mountain, which is a real difference in style.
