SHIZUOKA POT STILL W 3YO Japanese Single Malt Whisky
SHIZUOKA POT STILL W 3YO Japanese Single Malt Whisky
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100% Imported Barley First Edition
Malt: 100% Imported Barley
70% Scottish barley (peated)
20% Scottish barley (non-peated)
10% German barley
Peated around 30 ppm
Matured: 3 years to 5 years in Bourbon barrels & new cask
Domestic sales: 5,000 bottles
International sales: 2,000 bottles
This is the second in the W series, which is the successor to "Prologue W" released in 2021, and is composed of undiluted whiskeys from the wood-burning direct-fire distiller W. "Single Malt Japanese Whiskey Shizuoka Pot Still K Pure Japanese Barley First Edition" is a paired item with a different initial distiller and barley production area.
Only imported barley malt is used, which is the exact opposite of "Pot Still K Pure Japanese Barley First Edition" which uses 100% Japanese barley malt. In addition to Scottish peated malt, it combines German beer (pilsner) malt.Barley, which has a strong flavor, is made more powerful by the wood-fired direct-fire distiller W. It is a very rare manufacturing method in the world, where thinned wood cut from the Oku Shizuoka forest is used as a heat source and distilled at a high temperature of 800 degrees Celsius. It is an item that pursues a new Shizuoka style, with a gentle mouth opening and a gradually strong peaty feel.
*Although this product uses imported ingredients, it is a "Japanese single malt whiskey" that meets the Japanese whiskey standards set by the Japan Brewers Association.
Awards & Accolades
2023
Whisky Advocate -92 Points
Distillery Highlights
The Red Malt Mill, which pulverizes the malted barley, is a vintage mill that was manufactured in England in 1989. It was previously used at the now-legendary Karuizawa Distillery.
The ten washbacks divide into four made with Douglas Fir and six from locally grown cedar. These are the first fermenters made in Japan and it makes Shizuoka Whisky Distillery the only one in the world to use cedar. Nakamura-san was inspired by the traditional use of cedar in sake fermentation. Their washbacks are made by the only traditional craftsmen left who know how to make them, Fuji Seiokesho from Osaka.
Shizuoka Distillery is famous for its unique pot stills. The Whisky is distilled twice in the world’s only wood-fired, direct heat still. The firewood is sourced from lumber forests in Tamakawa via Tamakawa Kicori, a lumberyard in Shizuoka City. It’s then split into firewood and dried on-site at the distillery.
Shizuoka also has a smaller wash still formerly used at the iconic, but now defunct, Karuizawa Distillery.
Aged in ex-bourbon barrels and influenced by the temperature changes in Shizuoka, the whisky matures more rapidly than distilleries with a more stable climate.
DISTILLERY STORY
Founded in 2016 by Taiko Nakamura the Shizuoka Distillery is located in the Shizuoka's Okuzashiki "Oku-Siz" region, on the Nakakouchi River surrounded by an abundance of nature.
Underground water flows from the Japanese Southern Alps and moistens this land, eventually transforming into the great Abe River, flowing into Suruga Bay. The Whisky is slowly aging in this natural surrounding, with the animals breathing and the blessings of the beautiful nature that moves with the seasons.
The first distillate was produced in October 2016 and casked in December that year.
The distillery is owned by renowned whisky importer Gaia Flow who imports include the brands Blackadder and Amrut. It was designed by American architect living in Shizuoka, Derek Buston, with the intention that it should not be a traditional Scottish style distillery.
YOUTUBE VIDEO - Tour the Distillery
