The Hakushu 18 Year Old Peated Malt from Suntory's 2024 Tsukuriwake Selection, bottled at 48% rather than the usual 43%. It first appeared for Suntory's whisky centenary in 2023, and this 2024 edition carries a new limited label.
About This Whisky
Peated malt has been part of Hakushu's production for a long time, and this release brings it to the front. It is a vatting of peated Hakushu malts all aged at least 18 years in a mix of cask types. The cool, damp forest climate slows maturation, so the smoke comes through as clean and fragrant rather than medicinal. It is bottled without colouring or chill filtration.
Tasting Profile
- Nose: Sage, ripe green apple and a flash of pineapple over soft peat smoke.
- Palate: Layers of clean smoke with herbs, grapefruit and acacia honey.
- Finish: Smoke that lingers cleanly, with fresh green citrus underneath.
Serving & Food
Serve at room temperature in a tulip glass. The extra strength handles a few drops of water, which bring out the herbs. Smoked salmon on rye, charcoal-grilled wagyu skewers or a wedge of Lincolnshire Poacher all sit well beside it.
How to Enjoy
For peat drinkers curious about a gentler, herbal kind of smoke, and for anyone collecting the Tsukuriwake series.
Product Details
Distillery: Hakushu
Producer: Suntory
Age: 18 years old
Edition: Peated Malt, Tsukuriwake Selection 2024
Category: Japanese single malt whisky
Country: Japan
Region: Yamanashi Prefecture
Chief Blender: Shinji Fukuyo
Volume: 700mL
ABV: 48%
About the Distillery
Tsukuriwake is Suntory's word for making many different whiskies at one site. At Hakushu and Yamazaki, the blenders vary the barley, the peating level, the yeast, wooden or steel washbacks, still shape and cask type. That lets Suntory produce more than a hundred distinct malt styles and draw on them for blends and single malts.
The 2024 Tsukuriwake Series was the first to include a Hakushu. Suntory's fifth-generation chief blender, Shinji Fukuyo, put together its four whiskies, all at 48%: Yamazaki Golden Promise, Yamazaki Islay Peated Malt, Yamazaki 18 Mizunara and this Hakushu.