Finally, Yuza Distillery has released “YUZA First edition 2022” .Limited edition of 8,500 bottles.

Masaharu Sasaki, president of Yusa Distillery, says, “If you leave it to experts or veterans, the distillery will be stained with their colors.”  Young staff members start from scratch to create a distillery that is unique to Yuza Distillery.

“YUZA First Edition 2022” was born with the strong conviction to “age until we are satisfied” and “focus on producing only products that meet the definition of Japanese whiskey” . The time of dawn has finally arrived.

Yuza Distillery

This is the third whiskey distillery in the Tohoku region opened by Kinryu Corporation in Yuza-machi, Yamagata Prefecture in 2018.

Blessed with fresh, clean air and subsoil water from the famous Mt. Chokai, which has been selected as one of the “100 best places for water” Yusa-cho is an ideal place for making whiskey of the highest quality.

The pot still used is made by Forsythe, and there are five fermenters, using Canadian bay pine. The distillery uses Scottish methods for the production and maturation of whiskey, and does not release young whiskey into barrels. Focusing only on single malt　production It is a small distillery where mass production is not possible. Because we are a small distillery that cannot mass-produce, we take great care in every detail to produce whiskey of the highest quality with the utmost care.

You can’t help but feel the youthfulness of the original wine, but for the cask strength alcohol content, it is not tense and has a smooth texture. The sweet aroma of nuts, almonds, vanilla, and honey flows smoothly into the mouth, stimulating the tongue with a tingling yet fruity taste. You can feel some youth and cask strength. The tingling is loose and lingers with the malt flavor.

When water is added, the fruity aroma becomes even stronger and the sweetness of the bourbon barrels peeks through. The alcohol and youthfulness of the beer are hidden.

The impression changes dramatically between straight and watered down, so you can enjoy it twice in one sitting.

This is the quality of the first release. I can strongly feel the Yuza distillery’s commitment to this product.

Long-term maturation, bottling with water, and a single cask, which they are planning to produce in the future. Expectations for the Yuza distillery are only growing in the future. I can’t take my eyes off the whiskey that the Yuza distillery will continue to produce.

(All Images Courtesy of JPWhisky.net)

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