The legions of passionate fans of Ikebukuro, Tokyo's one and only Aloha Whisky Bar would probably by now have seen the announcement for the appearance of a very enigmatically labelled single cask of Saburomaru that's been bottled under notable Japanese whisky writer Stefan van Eycken's Ghost Series, for the celebration of Aloha Whisky Bar's 5th Anniversary!

Has it only been 5 years?

David Tsujimoto at the Aloha Whisky Bar in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, Japan.

Safe to say, Aloha Whisky Bar has become nothing short of an institution for those looking for great whiskies and an even better time, and that's more than a feat considering that many regard Japan to have amongst the greatest whisky bars. Established by David Tsujimoto in 2019, the bar has welcomed visitors from all over the world, and those who follow the bar's Instagram (here) would be forgiven for constantly gawking at the sheer extent of amazing whiskies that lines the bar's shelf. But those who've visited the bar would know that as cheesy as it might sound, David himself is the real star of the show, sporting that friendly and welcoming Hawaiian spirit, David moved over from Hawaii to Japan in 2017, and after finding his love for Japanese whiskies through a bottle of Hakushu 12, he would go on a spree collecting numerous expressions from all around Japan.

Over the next two years, he would amass over 1,500 bottles, many of which he knew had heaps of folks eager waiting to try a dram of, and of course being the incredibly generous person he is, decided a whisky bar would make the most sense. (PS. David's bottling of a 33 Year Old Strathclyde for his Aloha Whisky Bar was amongst the first articles on 88 Bamboo!) Within the span of just a year, the Aloha Whisky Bar would be named Bar of the Year by Whisky Magazine's Icons of Whisky awards!

| Read: Digging Deep With The Bar Keep With The Biggest Smile - David Tsujimoto From Aloha Whisky

And in the blink of an eye, we're celebrating Aloha Whisky Bar's 5th Anniversary! And that calls for something very special! And thus it was down to Stefan van Eycken, author of the bible for Japanese whiskies Whisky Rising, to bring out something he'd been holding on to for some time - welcome Ghost #24, a  Saburomaru Islay-Peated 4 Year Old, Cask #200099, for Aloha Whisky Bar’s 5th Anniversary, bottled at cask-strength.

| Read: First Impressions From An Early Arriver To Japan's Whisky New Era: Stefan van Eycken Takes Us Ghostbusting

"I always say “this bottling is special” – and they all are, in one way or another – but this one is, not only because of the inherent quality of the liquid in the bottle, but also because it involves two exceptional people. I love people who have their head in the clouds but their feet firmly on the ground and this release celebrates the work of two such dreamers who have accomplished a lot in a relatively short period of time." said Stefan.

The Ghost Series started out as a project by Stefan van Eycken to bottle some interesting and rare Japanese whiskies for fans of his blog Nonjatta (which anyone interested in Japanese whiskies should know of by now, or if you haven't should definitely check out). Along the way, it has seen some incredible bottlings that have included Karuizawa's mythical "rouge casks" from the one single year that parent, Mercian, aged Karuizawa's whiskies in wine casks, to peated Hanyu and Chichibu whiskies, and as of late has focused more on Eigashima Distillery's Akashi whiskies, featuring very unusual ex-Sake American Oak casks and Cabernet Franc casks.

The series is also distinctive in its labelling, with each label featuring a print of Japan's last woodblock print Master, Yoshitoshi's, final series of works titled "New Forms of Thirty-six Ghosts". It is said that the woodblock print selected for that specific bottle's label draws some resonance with the whisky that is being bottled. 

Now the eager cult followers of Stefan's Ghost Series might notice that with the announcement of Ghost #24, it might call into question where Ghost #22 and Ghost #23 are, to which it's worth remembering that Ghost releases are numbered in the order by which they are initiated and conceived, after which they are only bottled when it is deemed that they are ready.

We're incredibly honoured for Stefan to share with us the story behind this very special Ghost #24. Here's Stefan in his own words.

David and Stefan coming together for their charity event Spirits for Small Change.

88 Bamboo: Hi Stefan! Time sure does pass! We were just checking in with you last year on the very interesting Ghost #21 which was a Chichibu matured in an ex-Apple Saison Beer cask, and now you've got something for us again!

As someone who is known for the incredibly in-depth research you've done into each Japanese distillery - actually paying each of them a visit and getting to understand their craft - tell us more about Saburomaru.

[Stefan]: I first met Takahiko Inagaki in 2016, when he wasn’t even 30 years old. He had returned home to take over the family business (Wakatsuru Shuzo) and he was particularly interested in reviving the whisky heritage and taking it several levels up. I remember meeting Inagaki-san at a coffee shop in the Tokyo city center early one morning before a whisky show and I could tell, right off the bat, that he was the right person to take on the challenge of putting Saburomaru firmly back on the whisky map. Inagaki-san invited me to visit the distillery later that year.

The Saburomaru Distillery.

| Read: Who Says Whisky and Coca-Cola Don’t Go Together? – The Wakatsuru Saburomaru Distillery Story

What I found was an old ramshackle building with very idiosyncratic whisky-making equipment, to say the least. I could tell there was a lot of work to be done. Looking back, Inagaki-san’s revival of the distillery has been nothing short of remarkable. I’ve been back to the distillery many times over the years, and every single time, I could see something or other had been changed or added. On one of my return visits, I tasted some new-make made from Islay-peated malted barley and I was blown away. I made a mental note to keep track of this to see how it would develop in wood over the years to come. Doing a bottling for the Ghost Series was on my wish list, of course, but I wanted to wait until the moment was ripe. 

Takahiko Inagaki is shaking things up!

| Read: Saburomaru's Takahiko Inagaki: The Quiet Rebel Revolutionising Japan's Whisky Landscape

88 Bamboo: Yeah, it's definitely been quite the transformation that Inagaki-san has brought Saburomaru through, beyond just everything else he's been doing to change the game in the Japanese whisky scene! So then how did this Ghost #24 bottling come about?

[Stefan]: In the fall of last year, David Tsujimoto of Aloha Whisky Bar casually asked me whether I would have any interest in doing a collaborative bottling of Saburomaru to celebrate the 5th anniversary of his bar, and it was then that I felt the moment was ripe… I have known David from before he even had his bar and have fond memories of hearing him talk about his dream of setting up a bar of his own in Tokyo (one of these occasions was in Hawai’i, when he was driving me and my oldest son to a distillery there).

Many whisky enthusiasts have similar dreams, but David is one of the few who made it happen – and how! His bar has it all – I won’t enumerate all the fabulous things about it, as the list is very, very long. If you’ve been there, you know. If you haven’t, then there’s only one way to find out: go there! It’s no secret that Aloha Whisky Bar is my favorite bar in Japan (which, to me, means: in the world) and I have also had the pleasure of hosting lots of tasting events (both in person and online, during the pandemic) there, so I was over the moon to be able to do something together with David to celebrate the 5th anniversary of this very special place.

A whole line up of Saburomaru whiskies at Aloha Whisky Bar. 

88 Bamboo: Could you take us through how it all went down when you and David came down to selecting the whisky?

[Stefan]: And so it happened, that on a Tuesday morning in March of this year, David and I found ourselves on the bullet train to Shin-Takaoka station. I had shared my impressions of the Islay-peated new-make with David and we felt that would be a great focus, but we both agreed that the liquid would have to speak for itself and that, if one of the other samples offered was better and happened not be made with Islay-peated barley, then we would go with that.

Upon arrival, we decided that the best plan of action would be to taste through the samples and try to identify a favorite; then, take a break – look around the distillery – and come back to the samples, to see if either our impressions or the liquid (or maybe both) had changed. The sample we kept coming back to – both during our first tasting and our tasting later that morning – was the one that was eventually bottled… and it turned out to be an Islay-peated Saburomaru. 

Stefan and David with Saburomaru Distillery chief Takahiko Inagaki.

So, some basic info, the whisky David and I had selected was distilled from 50ppm Islay-peated barley (from Baird’s in Scotland) and was filled into wood on July 7th 2020. It was matured in a first-fill ex-bourbon barrel and aged in the large warehouse on site. When we went to find the barrel, we were pleasantly surprised to see it was an ex-Buffalo Trace barrel. These barrels are considered to be “premium ex-bourbon barrels” by many distillers in Scotland and in Japan and are now increasingly hard to get hold of. Clearly, the spirit and the wood had worked its magic in a relatively short span of time. Label design, approval and bottling usually takes a few months, so we knew that by the time the whisky would be in the bottle, it would be just past its 4th birthday. 

Yoshitoshi's Priest Raigo of Mii Temple Transformed by Wicked Thoughts into a Rat woodblock print.

88 Bamboo: That's incredible. And we have to of course talk about the artwork. In our last interview with you, you actually highlighted this particular print, of Priest Raigo turning into a rat, that you were particularly fond of, and yet you had wondered if any distillery might've been hesitant to use this print. Tell us more about how you came to using this print for Ghost #24! PS. We're actually very fond of this label as well, if we're being honest!

[Stefan]: For the artwork, I suggested the print showing priest Raigo’s vengeful spirit transformed into a rat with smaller rats assisting him in his destruction of the sacred books of the Mii Temple. As I have mentioned to you guys [88Bamboo] previously, I particularly like this print, but I was worried no distiller would want a bunch of rats on their whisky.

Even though the parallels between the story behind the woodblock print and the revival of Saburomaru distillery aren’t exact, I felt a sort of resonance between this print and the way the old rickety building I had seen first in 2016 had been transformed into the distillery as it is now… I don’t want to spell out these resonances too much, but the image of the rats devouring “received wisdom” speaks to me quite strongly. I was thrilled that first David and then Inagaki-san were happy to use this print as the label… and so here it is: Ghost #24 Saburomaru Islay-Peated 4YO Cask #200099 for Aloha Whisky Bar’s 5th Anniversary, bottled at cask-strength.

88 Bamboo: Very cool! And so how will the launch of Ghost #24 be done!

[Stefan]: A special launch event was organized at Aloha Whisky Bar on September 28th with Inagaki-san in attendance. The bottling was initially made available exclusively to those who attended this event.

[Nevertheless] a small number of bottles will be available from a few liquor shops with friendly ties to Aloha Whisky Bar. And, of course, it will be available by the glass at Aloha Whisky Bar. 

88 Bamboo: Awesome! Thank you so much once again for sharing with us this incredibly bottling, as you already know, we're big, big fans of yours, David and Aloha's, as well as Inagaki-san's!

We certainly hope we'll get the chance to try it, but if not, to our readers, definitely go out there and give a big Kanpai! to David and Aloha for being so incredibly wonderful, and please go out and treat yourself to this amazing whisky, Stefan has never let us down and we don't believe he ever will!

Pick a copy up here! It's on Amazon!

Note: If you're big into Japanese whiskies or you're interested in stepping into a realm of amazing whisky lore and the whole world of Japanese whiskies, definitely do pick up a copy of Stefan van Eycken's Whisky Rising, which is in its 2nd revised edition packed with updated entries on some of the most exciting Japanese distilleries coming up! It's been an amazing resource for us, and we could not recommend it enough!

Kanpai!

@111hotpot