Togouchi 9 Year Old

What it is

A 9 year old blended whisky under the Togouchi name from Sakurao Brewery and Distillery in Hiroshima, bottled at 40%. The unusual age is typical of the range, which has carried 8, 9, 12, 15 and 18 year statements at various points.

Where it comes from

The company, then called Chugoku Jozo, distilled whisky from 1938 until 1989 and then stopped. It returned in 2003 with Togouchi: imported Scottish malt and Canadian grain, shipped to Japan, matured in a disused railway tunnel and bottled locally. That doesn't meet the Japan Spirits and Liqueurs Makers Association standard, which requires distillation in Japan.

Sakurao Distillery opened in 2018 and from 2024 the Togouchi blended line was reformulated to use only the company's own whisky. A 9 year old cannot yet be Sakurao distillate on the dates, so this is the older imported formulation. That's an inference from the timeline rather than something the producer has stated, so check the bottle.

How it's made

Maturation happens in a former railway tunnel bored through the mountain at Akiota-Togouchi, where temperature and humidity stay constant all year. That's the whole proposition: no seasonal swing, so a smoother and more even result than warehouse maturation. Blending and bottling in Hiroshima.

What to expect

Soft, sweet and undemanding. Vanilla, honey, dried fruit and a light oak spice, with a short finish. Nine years of Scotch malt and Canadian grain in stable conditions produces something pleasant and well-behaved.

How it compares

Against the 8, marginally more depth for the extra year, though not enough to notice blind. Against the 15, the older bottling has considerably more going on. Against Togouchi Single Malt, that's the genuinely Japanese one from Sakurao's own stills, and if the provenance question bothers you, that's where to go.