The Last Drop, “Curators of the World’s Most Remarkable Spirits,” have gotten their hands on a single cask of 20 to 40-year-old blended Japanese malt whisky from the likes of Hanyu. 177 bottles are slated for release in the US.
No. 25 in The Last Drop’s collection will be the company’s first-ever Japanese whisky. It’s a blended malt from Hanyu and other famed distilleries, distilled and matured entirely in Japan.What other distilleries? They haven’t said. My guess is Karuizawa and/or Kawasaki, given the ages in the blend of 20 to 40 years.
Interestingly, it’s also apparently a 60% abv single cask bottling, with only 177 bottles available. Since the malts are from different distilleries and have different ages, The Last Drop is probably talking about a marriage cask. That single cask was an ex-Sherry one, too, making it “expressive and complex, but remarkably fresh for its age.”
No word on release date or price, but yeah, I can’t imagine it being very affordable for the average drinker.
Hi there! I created and run nomunication.jp. I’ve lived in Tokyo since 2008, and I am a certified Shochu Kikisake-shi/Shochu Sommelier (焼酎唎酒師), Cocktail Professor (カクテル検定１級), and I hold Whisky Kentei Levels 3 and JW (ウイスキー検定３級・JW級). I also sit on the Executive Committees for the Tokyo Whisky & Spirits Competition and Japanese Whisky Day. Click here for more details about me and this site. Kampai!
Hi Richard, can’t be Kawasaki, I think. They only did grain, right, not single malt and this is a blended malt.
I agree Karuizawa is definitely more likely but Kawasaki started making malt whisky in 1958. Their grain operation started about a decade later.
Could also be some Mars whisky. Since they still do have 20+ year releases from their old distillery.