Yamazakura Fine Blended Whisky

Sasanokawa Shuzo has been making Saki and Shochu since 1765.They added Whisky production to their core line-up in 1946. The family is considered an honorable one, and Japanese Whisky fans might remember that Hanyu / Ichiro went bankrupt, Sasanokawa Shuzo came to the rescue to save the inventory. Today they still produce their popular line of classic Japanese Spirits on site, along with a range of Whisky brands distilled locally and acquired.

The thing with traditional, old-school Japanese businesses is they won't go shouting around, telling you all their secrets and methods. That's also the case with Yamazakura Fine Blended Whisky and it's also part of its charm. We can tell you what we do know, though. While their releases hardly make it outside of Japan, this one was made available in 2015. It's limited edition and it was bottled at 80 proof. You'll find an intriguing floral nose, a touch of grain Spirit and some vanilla and caramel notes to boot. But anyway, you should probably taste this interesting Japanese expression for yourself.

Smartass Corner:
Yamazakura translates to mountain cherry trees in Japanese.