Kanosuke Cask Strength - 2022 Release

Founded in 2017 on the west coast of Kagoshima Prefecture, Kanosuke Distillery has quickly established itself as one of Japan's most exciting modern whisky producers. Owned by Komasa Jyozo, a family company with over 140 years of shochu-making heritage, the distillery combines traditional Japanese craftsmanship with innovative whisky production. Its coastal location overlooking the East China Sea creates a warm maritime climate that encourages relatively rapid maturation while adding subtle coastal character to the spirit.

Kanosuke is distinctive for operating three different pot stills, allowing the distillery to produce a wide range of spirit styles that are carefully married to create balance and complexity. Maturation takes place in a combination of ex-bourbon barrels, sherry casks and the distillery's signature re-charred American oak casks, many previously used to mature shochu. Although still a young distillery, Kanosuke has already earned international acclaim for its elegant, fruit-forward whiskies.

Distillery bottlings are, as the name suggests, bottled by or for the distillery from which the whisky has originated and are thus often referred to as Official Bottlings or OBs. Distillery bottlings are generally more desirable for collectors and usually fetch higher prices at auction than independent bottlings. They are officially-endorsed versions of the whisky from a particular distillery and are therefore considered the truest expression of the distillery’s character.

This ideal of the distillery character is regarded so seriously by the distilleries and brand owners that casks of whisky that are considered to vary too far from the archetype are frequently sold on to whisky brokers and independent bottlers. When this happens, it is often with the proviso that the distillery’s name is not allowed to be used when the cask is bottled for fear of diminishing or damaging the distillery’s character and status.