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A new world of blended whiskey from the Saburomaru Distillery.

A peaty, aromatic collaboration between the Saburomaru malt base whiskey distilled in 2018, which is the majority of the product, and the grain base whiskey that has been aged in-house for more than 12 years.

Distilled in 2018 means that it is not yet distilled in the cast pod still “ZEMON”.

The grain original is aged for up to 16 years. It plays a nice balancing role. Rather than that, we take our hats off to the blending ability, which is “as good as it gets”.

The Bottle

2018 distilled Saburomaru malt and home-aged 12+ year old grain

The majority of the Saburomaru malt, distilled in 2018, is made mainly from Mizunara and sherry casks from Toga, Toyama Prefecture, bringing out a variety of aromas, peppiness, and an oakiness derived from Mizunara.

The blended grain of more than 12 years old is aged in roasted casks from Iba and wine casks from Nagano, and the multi-layered flavors combine to support each other as a whole.

We hope you will enjoy this new frontier of Saburomaru blended whiskey.

Our Take

Last year, there was a blended whiskey release called “Tamausagi”.

Tama-Usagi was also a gem that showed the power of blending, but this release is even better than that.

It has a distinctive smoky, rich, and slightly citrusy taste, with a Japanese taste peculiar to Mizunara oak barrels and a burnt bittersweet taste from roasted bourbon barrels coming in later. The sweetness of the grain brings them all together nicely. It can be enjoyed straight or with soda. 

The single malt Saburomaru that will be released this year should finally be distilled in the cast pod still “ZEMON”. We can’t wait to see how it will taste.

(All Images Courtesy of JPWhisky.net)

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