Prices
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More from this distillery: All Togouchi and Sakurao whiskies and prices
About
What it is
A blended whisky from Sakurao Brewery and Distillery in Hiroshima, sold under the Togouchi name and finished in casks that previously held beer. Bottled at 40%, no age statement.
Where it comes from
Chugoku Jozo, as the company was known until 2021, made whisky from 1938 to 1989 and then stopped. It returned in 2003 with Togouchi, built on imported Scottish malt and Canadian grain matured in a disused railway tunnel in Japan, which doesn't satisfy the Japan Spirits and Liqueurs Makers Association requirement for distillation in Japan.
Sakurao Distillery opened in 2018, and from 2024 the Togouchi blended range was reformulated to use only the company's own distillate. A no age statement bottling like this is exactly the kind that could be either formulation depending on when it was filled, so the label is the only reliable guide.
How it's made
Beer casks are an unusual finish and they behave differently to wine or sherry wood. Beer leaves hop and yeast-derived compounds in the staves rather than residual sweetness, so the effect tends toward bitterness, cereal and a herbal edge rather than fruit. The base whisky matures in the Togouchi tunnel, where constant temperature and humidity give a smooth, even result, before the finishing period.
What to expect
Malt and cereal sweetness with a hoppy, slightly bitter edge and a dry finish. It's an interesting bottle rather than a profound one, and it works better with soda than neat, where the bitterness can sit awkwardly.
How it compares
Against the standard Togouchi blends, the beer cask is the experimental one in the range. Against Kirin's Fuji Single Malt, which also uses beer casks as part of its maturation, that's a far more serious whisky doing the same trick with more finesse. Against Togouchi Single Malt, that's the Japanese-distilled one.
