Rice Whisky flight

Rice whisky derives from shochu, a Japanese spirit that can be distilled from dozens of ingredients, including sweet potatoes, barley, and rice.

By aging shochu in wood casks, a spirit is produced that meets the legal definition of “whisky” even though it has been produced from rice.

Whisky 1: Kikori

Whisky 2: Ohishi Tokubetsu Reserve

Whisky 3: Ohishi Islay Cask

Kikori

Distilled in Japan on the island of Kyushu in a hidden gem of a town call Kumamoto.

Kikori is made from 100% locally grown rice.
Kikori is aged for a minimum of three years in American oak, French Limousin oak and sherry cask.
Although it sits at a 41% alcohol content (82 proof), Kikori is a great introduction to the Japanese style of whisky distillation.
Gold medal winner at the 2016 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

Ohishi Tokubetsu Reserve

Kazunori Oishi is the current master distiller for the distillery. He is the 6th generation distiller from his family for the Ohishi distillery.
Kazunori’s father originally began filling barrels with whisky and aging them in the 1970s.
The distillery is in the Kuma-Gun region. Distillation in this region dates back to 1546 when the technology was first brought to Japan from Portugal.
Tokubetsu Reserve is the crown jewel of the Ohishi distillery. It is made of almost equal parts of 7-year sherry cask, 10-year sherry cask and 27-year sherry cask whisky that was distilled back in 1974 by Kazunori’s father to celebrate his birth.
Made 100% from locally grown Japanese koji rice.

Ohishi Islay Cask

Continuing with the idealism of finding new and interesting ways to expose their base spirit and the wonders of barrel aging in ex-sherry casks, Ohishi released a whisky that pays homage to the original inspiration for Japanese whisky, Scotland.

Ohishi Islay cask is matured for 5 to 6 years in ex-sherry and ex-brandy casks and then it is finished in ex-Islay casks for 2 to 3 years.
The original Japanese houses of whisky distillation derived their methodology from Scotland. Most Japanese whiskies are the same style of whisky as Scotch. To label your product as Scotch it must have been made in a very specific fashion in Scotland. Hence, although most Japanese whiskies are made in the Scottish single malt fashion (literally distilled from a single style of malt), they are labeled as single-malt whisky since they are made outside of Scotland.
Ohishi is not a single malt whisky, but it pays homage to the original catalyst which sparked the whisky making movement in Japan by aging its whisky in islay casks.
Islay is one of the oldest regions in Scotland that has been distilling scotch. This is where the original Japanese master distiller learned how to distill.
Islay Scotch is distinct from other scotches with its intense flavor, bite, and peet forwardness.
These flavors are masterfully and subtly transferred to Ohishi’s whisky during the final maturation in the ex-Islay casks.