Is this not such a striking label? Those familiar with the Japanese bar scene might quickly recognise it as being from Kinko, a reputable liquor store in Kagoshima on Japan's Kyushu island. They're always using these very distinct traditional Ukiyo-e styled Japanese art labels that feature rabbits in various otherwise human activities.

Now Kinko has been around for quite some time and in that time they're said to have developed a very good relationship with distilleries in both Japan and abroad, which has led them to being rather prolific in their independent bottlings and distribution of quite a range of quality spirits that includes rum and Scotch whisky.

And as we know, the name of the game as an independent bottler and distributor is all about relationship with distilleries - the warmer the relationship, the better the quality of what an independent bottler or distributor gets to offer their customers in turn. Better selection, first pick of the best casks, getting first dibs at new releases - in the world of spirits, it's incredible crucial for the distillery to like you (rather than definitively being the other way around). And in turn, customers flock to those who are fewer degrees of separation away from the distillery. And so, to spell it out - Kinko is one you should definitely keep an eye out for. If you see it at a bar, it's almost certainly going to be worth your buck.

Now back to those bunny-themed labels, Kinko has them for quite some Japanese single malt bottlings thus far, including Chichibu, Mars and Akashi, amongst others. The art actually comes from a Japanese ukiyo-e master, Utagawa Yoshifuji, who lived during the late Edo and early Meiji periods. Like many ukiyo-e masters who specialise in the woodblock print medium of the time, Yoshifuji would produce numerous series depicting a range of subjects, although what he really became known for was a style called Omocha-e, which were specifically for children. Omocha-e prints were designed to be cut into various pieces and then pasted to make a picture of a toy, alittle bit like a puzzle. And so one of Yoshifuji's popular Omocha-e prints was a series that depicted rabbits in everyday human activities - that's the one used in Kinko-bottled Japanese whiskies.

And behind these rather cutesy bunny prints is actually a rather fascinating story! 

Most folks today would probably know alittle bit about financial bubbles - some say NFT's, crypto, tech stocks, what have you. Well, in the 1870's, which was around the time Yoshifuji made these rabbit-themed Omocha-e prints, Japan had gone through a Rabbit Bubble. See in the early Meiji Period, a ban on foreign trade had been lifted and pet rabbits became one of the more popular imports. Japanese folks had then considered Western culture to be of a higher social status, and had sought to emulate it - and you guessed it, having a pet rabbit was a relatively easy way to do so! Rabbits became quite the status symbol much as you would Chanel handbags, Rolex watches or Mercedes-Benz cars. The prices of these rabbits would skyrocket, and many folks got into the business of breeding these rabbits. Prized the most amongst them was the Sarasa-Moyo (Chintz Pattern) rabbit - that was one that black spots on white fur. You might see this today and laugh, but at one point male Chintz pattern rabbits would sell for as high as US$86,000 today as some scholars estimate!

Speculation became rife, and by extension rabbit fraud, with some folks dyeing their rabbits fur to make some quick money. Rabbit theft was prevalent and some folks were even murdered over some rabbit-fuelled disputes! The Japanese government was obviously very concerned and took to introducing an actual rabbit tax. Of course, many folks would try to sneak away with keeping rabbits in secret, and so a snitching system had to be introduced, with over 300 people being interrogated. This triggered a bust in the Rabbit Bubble, which was the end of it. That was amusingly until about five decades later when there was another Rabbit Bubble that emerged again in Japan, this time over Angora species rabbits. Oh Japan.

And so as Rabbitmania swept Japan in the late 1800's, anything Rabbit themed was going to do very well, and thus Yoshifuji was probably cashing in on it as well with his bunny depictions in his Omocha-e prints. 

So back to the bottle - now I don't have the story from the horse's mouth, but from what I was told, what's really special here is that this is the single only Mizunara cask matured Japanese single malt from Shizuoka. It appears that the folks at Shizuoka are rather traditional and have thus stuck largely to ex-Bourbon barrels, with the occasional Wine casks (sourced locally) and Sherry casks. They've definitely taken a different approach than much of what the whisky world has been fascinated by with the use of ever more exotic cask finishes - instead, they have preferred to focus on showcasing the use of local barley and the difference between it's two pot stills (one of which being salvaged from the legendary demolished old Karuizawa Distillery).

And so how this private cask came to be was that the folks at Kinko had apparently brought their own Mizunara cask and had requested to have Shizuoka's whisky be aged in it - thus Kinko calls it the "Only One Mizunara Cask". With only 163 bottles coming out of this one and only Mizunara cask, this is most definitely going to be an incredibly elusive bottle to get a hold of! Remember what we mentioned about Kinko having a great relationship with Shizuoka, I honestly think if it weren't Kinko, there aren't that many other folks who could get Shizuoka to do something like this!

It's aged for 5 years which is also the maximum limit allowed by Shizuoka Distillery for its private cask program, non-peated malt, and a combination of both its Karuizawa pot still and Woodfired pot still. 

Let's give it a go!

Shizuoka 2018, 5 Year Old, Only One Mizunara Cask, Private Cask for KINKO, 57.3% ABV | 静岡 2018-2023 オンリーワン ミズナラカスク 5年 ウイスキー キンコーさんPB - Review

Tasting Notes

Colour: Honey

Aroma: Super rich and honeyed notes of dried honeycomb; deep, deep, bountiful wafts of vanilla, tonka beans, coconut, completely integrated with that honeycomb. It’s bright, rich and vibrant, with so much depth. At the same time it’s utterly confectionary, buttery and malty, it’s like a mash up of butter coconut biscuits, and also marzipan. It also borders on the most buttery of pineapple tarts. The coconut flake scents are so vibrant and buttery and honeyed. There’s also a very aromatic mustiness of lacquered wood furnishing and agarwood. 

With time, it almost feels tropical, almost rum like (specifically Foursquare Rum from Barbados, if I’m being specific) - cola syrup, licorice candy, sarsaparilla, coconut, brown sugar. There’s also some orange liqueur, as well as some very gentle but prominent peanut butter funk and parsley. It just keeps evolving and developing every few minutes!

Taste: Punchy, with an initial note of orange zest, and then a super focused and concentrated honeyed and candied note that just mellows out. There’s a white peppery note but it’s almost just tingly. There’s heaps of desiccated coconut coated in honey. It’s incredibly buttery and malty. Also a sort of sweet ash, and a very aromatic woodiness of virgin oak - it’s fresh and bright. It’s altogether vibrant and bright, with loads of richness and is medium-bodied. It’s got this amazing intensity and its flavours are very forward and elegant in its precision.

Finish: It persists in its intensity, super candied, citruses, coconut, crumbled Graham cracker, maltose candy. It’s so honeyed, buttery and aromatic. It doesn’t even thin out. It just goes on forever. That sweet ash is well integrated in its concentrated delivery. Even in the aftertaste it just stays in its aromas - ridiculously aromatic. It keeps with that citrus, coconut, maltiness, it’s so focused and doesn’t ever let up. 

My Thoughts

I have to say that this is far and away one of the best whiskies I have ever tasted. Ignore that it’s the perfect embodiment of that legendary, highly touted yet almost mythical and illusory Mizunara flavour. Every distillery touts Mizunara and yet all we ever get is just vague and fleeting glimpses of it - this is the real f**king deal - it is so ridiculously vibrant, forward, and with the greatest intensity in that Mizunara flavour from the nose to the palate and finish. I have not had anything like this.

But again, ignore all that. This packs so much intensity, balance and complexity. It is everything you want in a perfect whisky, much less a perfect example of a Japanese single malt. On the nose, it starts off vibrant and yet structured, it’s precise and intense. It’s got great richness and depth that you could just keep nosing and as it evolves that richness and depth doesn’t even crack. With time it evolves into something reminiscent of Bajan rum from Foursquare, and with even more time, it’s almost Bourbon-like. And in every profile it evolves into, it embodies the more classic and best representation of that profile. If this was a rum - it’d be the perfect rum. If it were a Bourbon - it’d be the perfect Bourbon. 

And that’s just the nose. On the palate, again great intensity, vibrance, richness. It moves fast with power and energy, but at the same time the flavours are forward and intense. Here rather than capture a wide spread of flavours, the complexity come from its elegance. It most keeps within a small set of flavours - citrus, coconut, malt, wood, ash, honey - but it does so with such concentration and focus. The flavours are well-developed and expressed, completely cohesive, delivering a sweet, ashy and tropical, buttery palate. It somehow finds a way to be intense and yet mellow at the same time. Again the elegance is in how simply delicious this is. You could break this all down technically as to why it’s so perfectly executed, but just the act of tasting it would convince you how straightforward and ridiculously tasty this is. These technical proficiencies are second to how they all come together to deliver this one perfectly cohesive and distinct flavour. It’s so singular.

The finish demonstrates once again that intensity, power and focus. It carries through what was on the palate all the way till the end, and even on the finish, it is clean but the incredible aromas remain.

This is quite honestly a staggering expression of a Japanese single malt - and quite possibly the best I’ve had of the category and definitely ranks amongst the best I’ve had in the broader whisky category. This is definitely one I will remember for life. I could not for the life of me remotely think of one flaw here.

I don’t know if this will ever be repeated. But I will put all my money on Shizuoka being the best Japanese distillery today if it could consistently produce whiskies like this.

PS. Perhaps fittingly this caps off what would be my last dram at Singapore's Samsu Huaykuan bar, a place that I've found great respite in the bustle of the city, always helmed by the incredibly friendly and warm barkeep J. It's been a real joy to visit the past 2 years, and I've always looked forward to enjoying a drink or five there. Thank you for bravely putting on masterclasses and tasting events (no easy feat in a country with a very small whisky community) to encourage folks in the community to stretch their palates and find new flavours - it was a really cool endeavour that I wish would've stayed longer.

If you're in Singapore, Samsu Huaykuan closes its doors 27th June 2024 - do head over and have one last dram! And to J, I wish you the very best on your future adventures!

Kanpai!

@111hotpot