White oak distillery is the producer of this next flight of whiskies. They are a very old and established entity in the alcohol production world of Japan. They got their start in 1888 brewing sake and umeshu (plum wine).

In the mid 20th century, copper distillation pots were introduced to their brewery and their journey of distilling Japanese whisky and other spirits began.

tasting notes:

Whisky 1: Akashi Blended Whisky

• Malt

• Caramel

• Grain

• Alcohol

Whisky 2: Akashi Sherry Cask

• Red Fruits

• All Spice

• Plum

• Chocolate

Whisky 3: Akashi Ume

• Butter

• Sour

• Jammy red fruit

Akashi Blended Whisky

• This is White oaks base level blended whisky.

• This whisky is considered intense and comes with a heavy bite comparable to some clear spirits.

• For this reason this starts off this flight. The intensity is meant to prime your taste buds for the next two whiskies.

• This is a rare occasion where a whisky that is considered unbalanced hits other marks so well that it works.

Akashi Sherry Cask

• This Whisky uses the previous whisky as it's based but it is aged for 5 years in ex sherry casks.

• Poor inventory and quality management lead to lesser quality yields of whisky for the White oak distillery in the early 2000s.

• In order to salvage these distillates they began playing with age statements and Barrel aging and thus, the extensive line of barrel aged Akashi line was born.

• The distillery has since bounced back in quality and the age statements that kept them afloat have now become their namesake product.

Akashi Ume

• This is a unique and dramatic variant in the Japanese whisky world. The base level whisky that is made by the White Oak Distillery is blended after its aging/maturation process with Umeshu. 

• In a nutshell, Umeshu is a sweet wine made of unripe sour green plums. The end product is comparable to a dessert wine.

• The sweetness and complexity of the addition of Umeshu to this distillate yields a very unique and one of a kind whisky.