Correction: Original title labelled the 3 Year Old Akashi Heavily Peated 50ppm as the 16th Edition in the Ghost Series. It has been corrected to reflect that it is instead the 18th Edition in the Ghost Series. 

(Image Source: Hideo Yamaoka)

Hideo Yamaoka's Whisky Mew will be releasing the 18th edition of the wildly popular and thoroughly legendary Ghost Series by renowned Japanese spirits expert Stefan van Eycken. You can check out one of his books, Whiskey Rising, which is one of the most comprehensive and best guides on Japanese whiskies.

 The Ghost Series bottlings have become incredibly sought after. (Image Source: Bonhams)

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.

Yoshitoshi's last master works titled "New Forms of Thirty-six Ghosts". (Image Source: The Value)

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.

This time, famous manga and Japanese expert Hideo Yamaoka, known for bottling whiskies that carry popular manga-inspired labels under his independent bottler Whisky Mew, is collaborating with Stefan van Eycken yet again for the 18th edition of the ghost series. The bottling in question is an Akashi whisky aged for 3 years, drawn from Casks #101857 and #101858, made with heavily peated 50ppm malt, and matured in a 1st Fill Bourbon Cask, distilled in 2018 and bottled in 2022. It has been bottled at 62% ABV.

Yoshitoshi's "The Ghost of Wicked Genta Yoshihira Attacking Namba Jiro at Nunobiki Waterfall" will be featured on the label of the 16th Edition of The Ghost Series bottlings. (Image Source: Fuji Arts)

It will carry on its label the 19th print from Yoshitoshi's "New Forms of Thirty-six Ghosts", which is titled "The Ghost of Wicked Genta Yoshihira Attacking Namba Jiro at Nunobiki Waterfall".

Official Tasting Notes

Aroma 

Smoked mackerel at first, bonfire with water, pickled burdock, Jerusalem artichoke, smoked ham. But gradually delicate flowers, grass, orchard fruits, sun-dried tatami mats, and potato skins emerge-complex but well-balanced.

Taste

Sweet (custard and toasted marshmallows) with nutty (hazelnuts, brazil nuts) attacks, followed by smoky and appetizing features (gobo soup, grilled zucchini). Watering brings out the sweetness, but it loses some complexity.

Finish

Refreshing but sweet, with lemon curd, tarte tatin, candied grapefruit rind, white pepper, and a touch of Japanese pepper, followed by a faint smoke.

Overall Rating 

This isn't the only whiskey to do-heavy peated, but fully integrated, the role of harmonizing aromas and flavors without dominating or erasing other aromas and flavors. Is playing.

The total outturn for the release is 631 bottles.

Kanpai!

@111hotpot