Japanese Blended Whisky White Oak Akashi Red - Eigashima Shuzo
 
Akashi Red is a blended Japanese whiskey produced by Eigashima Shuzo in the White Oak distillery in Akashi.
 
Type: Whisky
Origin: Japan
Alcohol content: 40%
Format: 50cl 
 
Tasting Notes: Light amber color. On the nose there are initially notes of vanilla, dried grass, apples, cinnamon and medicinal hints. On the palate it is smooth with notes of apples, peach and honey with hints of vanilla and a very light salinity. Finish, slightly warm, with notes of apple, toasted oak, ginger and honey.
 
The Distillery: The location of the distillery is one of the most beautiful and unique in Japan, it is located in the small fishing village of Eigashima, a few steps from the sea and the Akashi Strait. The climate here is particularly mild, hot summers and warm winters with very little rain, White Oak, in addition to being one of the southernmost distilleries in Japan, is unique thanks to its location and climate. The White Oak, or rather the Eigashima Shuzo distillery (this is its real name) was founded in 1888 and acquired the license for the production of whiskey already in 1919, it was in fact the first distillery in Japan to have a license for this guy. On paper this would appear to be the oldest whiskey distillery in Japan, but in the land of the rising sun you can never take everything for granted when it has set up a couple of small stills (about forty years after licensing). The actual production of whiskey at Eigashima Shuzo began in the 1960s, when a pair of copper pot stills was installed. Initially the whiskey produced was used only for the house blends but at the beginning of the 1980s whiskey consumption in Japan increased dramatically reaching levels never seen before. This great demand led the distillery to retire the two small stills and build a new Scottish-style building with 2 larger, but used stills, dedicated exclusively to whiskey (White Oak). Even though with a dedicated building the production of whiskey remained part-time, consider that whiskey was only produced by the distillery between the months of June and July, for the rest of the year sake and shochu were produced. However, given the current high demand for Japanese whisky, production has moved to 4 months, from April to July as opposed to sake and shochu which have seen a decrease in production.