This is a single hogshead of Hakushu, distilled in 1992 and bottled at the distillery in 2011 at 57% under Suntory's Owner's Cask label. The cask gave 253 numbered bottles, and it shows a fuller, more complex side of the distillery than the familiar green and fruity style.
About This Whisky
Cask #2B40276 is a hogshead, a medium-sized cask that lets the spirit take on oak steadily over a long stay. It was distilled in 1992 and bottled in 2011, which puts the whisky at around 18 to 19 years old, at a cask strength of 57%. Each of the 253 bottles is individually numbered and was bottled at Hakushu itself. As with any single cask, the character belongs to this barrel alone and will not match another Owner's Cask.
Tasting Profile
- Nose: Beeswax, green apple skin and lemongrass, with a thread of peat smoke.
- Palate: Big and oily at full strength, with orchard fruit, white pepper, vanilla and toasted oak.
- Finish: Long, with a herbal bitterness, drying oak and faint smoke. Dilution softens it towards honey and pear.
Serving & Food
At 57%, taste it neat first in a small nosing glass at room temperature, then add water gradually, a teaspoon at a time, until the spirit relaxes. No ice. Try it alongside grilled saba, walnut bread with a hard sheep's cheese, or thinly sliced cured ham.
How to Enjoy
Single-cask Hakushu drinkers and anyone putting together a run of Suntory's natural-strength bottlings.
Product Details
Distillery / Producer: Hakushu / Suntory, Japan
Series: The Owner's Cask
Vintage / Bottling: Distilled 1992, bottled 2011
Cask / Outturn: Hogshead #2B40276, bottle 242 of 253
Volume: 700mL
ABV: 57% ABV
Origin: Japan
Producer: The House of Suntory
About the Distillery
When this cask was filled in 1992, Japanese whisky was deep in a long slump. Home demand had peaked in the early 1980s and a liquor tax change in 1989 made imported Scotch far cheaper, so Hakushu's malt went mainly into Suntory blends and single malts were a side line.
Casks laid down in those quiet years matured slowly in the forest warehouses. Some were later released through The Owner's Cask, a series of single casks from Yamazaki and Hakushu bottled at natural strength, sold as whole casks to private buyers, bars and companies.
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