Hakushu 18 Year Old Limited Edition

This well presented Hakushu 18 Year Old Limited edition release is a slightly peated Japanese single malt offered by the Suntory distillery. With a maturity superior to Hakushu 12 years, its woody and fruity notes are extremely delicate and harmonize beautifully with smoked aromas. The malt is slightly peaty and perfectly balanced, endowed with a rare aromatic richness. The maturity displayed by this opus is worthy of the biggest names of Scottish whisky. The woody and fruity notes blend perfectly with the slightly smoky side of Hakushu.

This has won the Gold medal at the International Wine & Spirit Competition in 2010 and Gold medal at the International Spirits Challenge in 2006 and 2009.

Hakushu

Originally founded in 1973, over 50 years after its sister distillery Yamazaki, Hakushu is arguably the most picturesque distillery in the world. Nestled in the forests of Japan’s alps in the Yamanashi prefecture, Hakushu is Suntory’s second malt whisky distillery with the local mountains providing the water for production. The location has seen a number of renovations and expansions throughout its history, with a second large scale distillery built in 1981. All production takes place in this second location with the original building being decommissioned in 2006. Hakushu has been a core component in all of Suntory’s blends since its initial founding and is an important piece of their flagship Hibiki brand. As the distillery is nearly 700 metres above sea level and 5 degrees colder than the temperatures seen at Yamazaki, the spirit is matured a lot slower and often incorporates a more oily and smoky style.

Both Yamazaki and Hakushu utilise Scottish import barley, with Hakushu typically using lightly peated barley. This slightly smokier style of whisky juxtaposes Yamazaki’s lighter, more sherry driven style and helps to bring balance and complexity to Suntory’s blends. The Hakushu distillery uses a variety of cask types including ex-umeshu barrels, Japanese Mizunara, American oak and even has an onsite cooperage to ensure the highest quality barrels. With the high demand for Japanese whisky Hakushu has seen exponential demand in both the limited edition and core release products. The core product 12 year old was discontinued in 2018 and only returned to shelves in 2021. Suntory’s yearly limited edition releases have been exceptionally sought after, with Hakushu malts being matured in a range of speciality casks such as Spanish Oak sherry casks. These releases are not often found outside of Japan and have become jewels of many collections.