Whisky: Asaka 5 Year (2019) Cask 19047

Country/Region: Japan

ABV: 50%

Cask: Sherry Cask

Age: 5 Years (Distilled 26 March 2019, Bottled 26 March 2024)

Nose: Big cask-driven notes of dried fruits, pickled plums, licorice, lacquered wood, balsamic, kiss of salt.

Palate: Medium-bodied, peppery and spirited, dried fruits, lacquered wood, cinnamon, balsamic, leather, milk chocolate.

Finish: Medium-length with peppery spirit, dried fruits, and a kiss of salt.

Score: 7 (82)

Mental Image: Sherry Monster’s Summer Picnic

Narrative & Notes: The aroma revealed a big, dumb sherry monster without any reservations or pretensions otherwise.  Ume and pickled plums offered a slightly salty diversion with hints of strawberry, licorice, and parilla leaf.  Dried fruits were everywhere, occasionally veering toward cranberries alongside lacquered wood, grilled watermelon, and balsamic.  Medium-bodied and a touch spirited the flavor profile was a cask-driven panoply of dried fruits, lacquered wood, and baking spices.  Cinnamon and ume skated across ribbons of balsamic, leather, and milk chocolate.  Peppery spirit lingered toward the end and carried onto the finish with dried fruits and a kiss of salt.

This was another new Japanese distillery for me, and much like the Yuza I posted last time, Asaka is part of Japan’s New Wave of whisky distilleries.  Though the company experimented with whisky production between to 1960s and 1980s, it was largely a side project to their sake business. In the 1980s, the distillery began to import scotch to blend with its own product before winding down production.  Yet, the producer was not done with whisky and played a major role in the reinvigoration of the industry, as Van Eycken explains in Whisky Rising, the distillery provided warehouse space for Ichiro Akuto after the closure of Hanyu while he worked to get Chichibu up and running.  The favor was repaid in 2015 when Chichibu provided on-site training for Asaka before it kicked off production with new stills in 2016.

Overall, a lovely cask-driven affair.  This is not really my preferred style of whisky, but when I reach for a big sherried affair I love finding balsamic notes.