Hakushu, 1998-2008, Hogshead, Location 21-11-5, White Oak Hogshead Cask No. CD40728, 109/246, 56% abv.

The legs retreat extremely quickly when I swirl the pour. Suntory established Hakushu in 1970, with the first batches out of their 24 stills in 1973. Their products basically went into blends. Interestingly, even being one of the largest distilleries in the world, there was an expected increase in Japanese whisky demand and Hakushu started to expand with a new distillery called Hakushu East with 12 stills in 1981, making the older section Hakushu West. The late 1980s experienced a downturn in Japanese whisky and Hakushu West had to shutdown; converted to meeting rooms and other miscellaneous facilities. Now, like most Suntory whisky products, it's quite hard to find a bottle.

Nose: kids candy, mellow jolly rancher type.

Palate: initial and mid palate has light white sugar, spices develop, a hint of wood on the back. Adding water just makes it more spicey.

Finish: dry, long, abv burn, sweet artificially flavored popsicles (not cold) and candy. Adding water makes the finish more spicey.

This Hakushu is like spicey kids candy! Pretty simple stuff. Adding water just made the spice more potent.

Grade: C

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Image courtesy of Eric Yee.

Eric Yee

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