Hakushu 25 Year Old is the oldest age statement in Suntory's standing Hakushu range, a single malt drawn from whiskies aged more than a quarter of a century at the company's mountain distillery in Yamanashi. This is the older Japan-market 700mL presentation, bottled at 43%. It shows where Hakushu's green, lightly smoky spirit ends up after very long ageing.
About This Whisky
Suntory builds the 25 from three styles of long-aged Hakushu malt, all matured for more than 25 years. One is creamy and powerful and gives the body. A heavily peated component carries the smoke, and whisky from Spanish oak casks adds darker fruit. The result is richer and deeper in colour than younger Hakushu, yet the herbal lift of the distillery is still there. It has picked up Double Gold medals at the International Spirits Challenge in recent years.
Tasting Profile
- Nose: Stewed plum, cedar cigar box and burnt sugar, with a thin curl of smoke.
- Palate: Custard richness, baked pineapple, sage and a trace of lavender, with the oak kept in check.
- Finish: Gently smoky and long, fading on hinoki cypress and dried herbs.
Serving & Food
Serve it unchilled in a tulip glass or small copita, and let a modest pour sit for ten minutes before the first sip. At 43% it rarely needs water. With food, try unagi kabayaki, a wedge of aged Comté, or dark chocolate with a pinch of sea salt.
How to Enjoy
A special-occasion bottle for those who already know Hakushu 12 and 18 and want to see how the style matures at 25 years.
Product Details
Producer: The House of Suntory
Distillery: Hakushu
Country: Japan
Region: Hokuto, Yamanashi Prefecture
Style: Japanese single malt whisky
Age: 25 years
ABV: 43.0%
Proof: 86
Volume: 700ml
Presentation: Japan old version
About the Distillery
Hakushu opened in 1973, built under Keizo Saji, son of Suntory founder Shinjiro Torii, fifty years after the company's first distillery at Yamazaki. Saji wanted a second malt that would taste nothing like the first, so the new site went high and cool: around 700 metres up in forest at the foot of Mt. Kaikomagatake in the Southern Japanese Alps.
Much of the estate is still woodland today. For years its spirit went mainly into Suntory blends, and the aged single malts came later: the 18 Year Old in 2006 and this 25 Year Old in 2008. Both sit above the 12 Year Old and the Distiller's Reserve in the line-up.