I've had the incredible fortune of having tried 3 bottlings from the Ghost Series, which comes from one of Japanese whiskies' most authoritative writers, Stefan van Eycken (who wrote the book Whisky Rising, and was also a part of Nonjatta, a now inactive blog on Japanese whiskies).

The bottlings each feature a print from a seminal Japanese art collection by the last ukiyo-e woodblock print master Yoshitoshi, called the "New Forms of Thirty-Six Ghosts", made from 1889 to 1892. The series reinterprets thirty six lores of ghost stories from traditional Japanese literature, as at the time, old Japan was fascinated with the supernatural and even considered it sort of as pop culture.

These bottlings from Stefan's Ghost Series are fairly difficult to find in Japan, although still largely possible at bars, and exceptionally difficult to find outside of Japan, as only a small portion makes it out of Japan, and typically lands into the hands of collectors.

The pair, Hideo (left) and Stefan (center), with Yoshitsugu Komasa, founder of Kanosuke Distillery. (Image Source: Whisky Mew)

As such, anytime I get to sample one of them, I count myself incredibly fortunate, as they typically are not just high quality picks but also tend to feature more unique expressions. Today's bottling comes from the fast rising Kanosuke Distillery, and is the distillery's first instance of a Chardonnay cask finish. Unique, right? That didn't disappoint.

I must first say a big special thanks to Danny from spirits distributor Friends With Drams, who so generously helped me get this bottle from none other than Hideo Yamaoka of Japanese bottler Whisky Mew, who collaborated on this bottling with Stefan. I should caveat that while it is certainly a great keepsake, what I actually got was an almost empty bottle. A great souvenir nonetheless from The Malt Affair festival held in Singapore in November 2022. Big thanks!

Kanosuke Distillery sits by the coast, which the distillery hopes will have a coastal effect on its whiskies. (Image Source: Cask-Investment)

Let's cover some of the groundwork.

Kanosuke Distillery based in Kagoshima, is one of the fast rising craft distilleries, and for good reason, they make great whiskies. And they should certainly know how to - founder Yoshitsugu Komasa named the distillery after his grandfather Kanosuke Komasa who pioneered cask aging shochu, creating the cask-aged Mellowed Kozuru, a very popular shochu.

The Komasa family has run Komasa Jyozo for five generations now, with Yoshitsugu being the fifth-generation to helm the company. As such the family has loads of experience with crafting drinks.

The Komasa family's claim to fame is the barrel-aged Mellowed Kozuru shochu. (Image Source: Amazon JP)

Yoshitsugu nonetheless felt that interest in local Japanese spirits such as shochu was waning, and theorised that a move towards a more international spirit such as whisky would serve to create a backdoor for the drinks community to rediscover shochu. And thus Kanosuke Distillery was formed. With less than a couple of years under their belt, they received great validation when they not only bagged numerous international awards, but also caught  a huge vote of confidence when Diageo's Distill Ventures made an investment in the distillery, whilst allowing Yoshitsugu to continuing running it in his vision.

As for the expression at hand, this was distilled in 2018, just a year after the distillery started operations. It was matured in a first fill Bourbon barrel for 3 years before being finished in a refill Chardonnay barrel and then bottled in April 2022. It was bottled at 58% ABV with a very small outturn of only 271 bottles.

It carries the woodblock print "Sagi Musume" from ukiyo-e master Yoshitoshi's "New Forms of Thirty-Six Ghosts".

"The work has its basis in the eponymous folk tale which resembles the famous Russian story Swan Lake and is often performed as a dance or in Kabuki theatre.

In the tale, a man finds an injured heron and cares for it until it is strong enough to fly again. Later on in his life he meets a woman who then becomes his wife, making their living by selling the silk brocades which she weaves. One day when the husband chances upon his wife at work, he realises that she is actually the heron he had once saved, causing their relationship to sadly end.

Yoshitoshi's Heron Maiden is classically mysterious and veiled in all white garments."

Source: Japanese Gallery Kensington

Kanosuke 2018 Ghost Series, 3 Year Old, Chardonnay Cask Finish, 58% ABV, Bottled by Stefan van Eycken - Review

Color: Deep Amber

Aroma: Quite punchy but immediately strong perfumery scents of tinned peaches and apricots. Super ripe Fuji apples, Umeshu, marzipan, maple butter, Hi-Chew fruit candy, vanilla cream. Lots of orchard fruits here with notes of fruit syrup and butter. There's also a waxiness of scented candles. It kind of reminds me of a peach danish with custard cream.

Taste: Vibrant - muscat grapes, namely. It's lightly sweet, very aromatic, and also tart. There's a light touch of minerality and a very curious spritzy soda water sensation. This grows into a richer fruit compote of orchard fruits. The acidity is quite apparent here. 

Finish: Still quite punchy, the tart acidity sharpens and it gets quite spicy, ending with a light bit of white wine - lightly sweet, bright and tart.

My Thoughts

This was quite interesting, I've never experienced the sort of effervescence that I found on the palate here. That said, while it was an interesting tasting profile, I did find that the cask influence here was alittle overpowering vis-a-vis the distillate itself. The characteristic Kanosuke notes were much more held back, and the expressiveness came largely from the cask. It was also still quite indicative of its youth - very punchy and still quite hot.

I think as with wine casks and whiskies, some age really helps to marry and integrate the cask and the whisky together better and create a more harmonious profile. The combination of a young whisky and a wine cask, as I've reviewed previously, tends to create a sharp and tart taste. With more age, this usually mellows out and the wine flavors marries into the whisky beautifully, in a much more rounded and cohesive fashion. 

This has alot of potential, but some age would really help.

Kanpai!

@111hotpot