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On May 31, 2022, this was achieved by exchanging malt whiskey from three distilleries in Japan: Nagahama Distillery, Eigashima Distillery, and Saburomaru Distillery. Two blended whiskeys, “INAZUMA Edition No.3”, were released in a limited edition.

The “INAZUMA Blended Malt Japanese Whiskey Synergy Blend Edition No. 3” and “INAZUMA World Blended Whiskey Extra Selected Edition No. 3” are available in No. 3, but the latter is described on this page. The product name is “Shigeru”, which is the name of the prefecture. 

The product name is derived from the appearance of the kanji character “Shigeru” in the prefecture’s name, and the label depicts the nature of Lake Biwa and the symbols of Hyogo Prefecture “stork” and Tonami City “hiyodori” that fly there. If you look into the center of the bottle, you can see the scenery of Lake Biwa, which is associated with each bottle.

The Bottle

Exchange of malt liquors from three distilleries in Japan: Nagahama Distillery, Eigashima Distillery, and Saburomaru Distillery.

The malt whisky from Nagahama distillery is used as the key malt, and the malt whisky from the three domestic distilleries used in the synergy blend are blended by changing the recipe composition. The long-aged grain whiskey successfully connects the unique malt whiskeys.

Whisky has been growing by leaps and bounds in recent years, and it is said that 90% of the whisky currently distributed in Japan is “blended whisky. In Scotland, the home of blended whiskey, there is an active exchange of whisky, resulting in the birth of many unique blended whiskeys, and it is not unusual for a single product to be a blend of whiskies from several distilleries. For INAZUAMA EDITION No. 3, the brewery attempted to blend the original spirits from three distilleries in Japan for the first time in the series.

Reference: Nagahama Romantic Beer Official ONLINE SHOP

Our Take

I have the impression that the estrous aroma of Eigashima distillery, the peaty aroma of Saburomaru distillery, and the fruity flavor of Nagahama distillery are intertwined in a good way. Later on, lactic acidity and bitter chocolate-like residual aroma can also be detected, and the grain base liquor brings the malt characteristics together nicely. You can enjoy the changes of this whiskey over time.

Nagahama Distillery has been actively conducting crowdfunding activities such as “Whiskey Blending Experience,” and is making efforts to promote whiskey. We can’t take our eyes off their future activities.

(All Images Courtesy of JPWhisky.net)

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