KANOSUKE HIOKI POT STILL
KANOSUKE HIOKI POT STILL
A Japanese style pot still whisky inspired by Irish whisky and bourbon and infused with an accumulation of shochu expertise (in our pot still whisky, luxurious amounts of unmalted barley and malted barley are carefully distilled in pot stills and matured in new American white oak casks and bourbon barrels.)
A bold and rich flavour with an aroma imbued with a sweetness like baked treats and an elegant spiciness.
FLAVOUR WHEEL
TASTING NOTE
AWARD
PRODUCT STORY
Imbuing whisky making with the accumulation of shochu distillery wisdom
‘Whisky and shochu, whisky distillery and shochu distillery —
Could we produce a new blended Japanese whisky that can be a bridge between the two?’
This was Yoshitsugu’s vision, and what gave him ideas for succeeding were the Irish whiskies and bourbon whiskies he learned from on site in distilleries in his visits to Ireland and the U.S.A. By fusing the distinctiveness and techniques of each type of spirit, he was able to give form to the new kind of harmony that is only possible in Japan.
The raw materials and distillation ideas came from Irish whisky.
The maturation ideas came from bourbon.
First, for the raw materials, he employed the malted barley and unmalted barley that are used in Irish whisky. Unmalted barley is a raw material he was deeply familiar with through using it in shochu.
For mashing and distillation, he drew upon Irish whisky tradition and introduced the techniques of pot still distillation and vacuum distillation. These were actually techniques that had already been refined through the process of producing shochu, and produced a new pot spirit that combines a subtle and beautiful aroma with a deep thickness.
Then comes the maturation. The inspiration for this stage came from bourbon whisky. To draw out the powerful feel, new American white oak casks were selected. However, considering the climate of Hioki that speeds up the maturation process, we used a large puncheon sized cask (approx. 450 litres) instead of a barrel sized one (approx. 200 litres).
The expertise we accumulated through making the cask-aged shochu “Mellowed Kozuru” supports this choice. Even when weaving together different cultures, a common philosophy imbues the core of the process. This is the concept behind KANOSUKE whisky.
Feedback from worldwide connoisseurs
has sustained us.
Initially, KANOSUKE HIOKI POT STILL was created with the intent of being used in the subsequently released blended whisky KANOSUKE DOUBLE DISTILLERY. However, the quality received high praise from worldwide whisky connoisseurs, and the reaction exceeded expectations. With that kind of praise bolstering it, KANOSUKE HIOKI POT STILL was eventually released as a regular product in December 2023.
