Kanosuke Japanese Whisky

Kanosuke is one of the most exciting of Japan's new distilleries, and one of the clearest cases of what the country's new whisky standard is meant to protect. It was built on the coast of Kagoshima, in the far south of Kyushu, by Komasa Jyozo, a family company that has made shochu since 1883. It started distilling in 2017. Everything in this collection is distilled and matured by the group in Japan.

What makes it different

Two things. First, Kanosuke runs three copper pot stills of different shapes, so its blenders can build lighter and heavier spirits under one roof. Second, it has a supply of casks nobody in Scotland has: barrels that previously held the family's own aged rice shochu. That shochu-cask influence — soft, a little sweet, a little savoury — runs through the range.

The bottles

• Kanosuke Single Malt 2022 ($189.99) — distilled 2017–2019 on all three stills and bottled at 59% ABV. Lemon tea, honey and cinnamon. The one to start with.
• Kanosuke Cask Strength 2023 ($189.99) — peated and unpeated malt from 2018–2019, aged about 4–5 years in sherry, bourbon and shochu casks, also at 59%. Richer, spicier and more custardy than the 2022.
• Kanosuke Double Distillery ($129.99) — lightly peated Kanosuke malt blended with whisky from the group's Hioki distillery. A lighter, fruit-forward pour that works well in a highball.
• Kanosuke Hioki Pot Still ($99.99) — malted and unmalted barley, distilled in Hioki's stainless-steel shochu stills and bottled at 51%. Apricot, butter and citrus, and the most unusual bottle here.

How to drink it

The two single malts are bottled strong, so add a few drops of water and let the glass sit for a minute; the fruit opens up noticeably. The Double Distillery is the one for soda — see our Japanese highball guide for ratios.

Not sure how to tell a Kanosuke from a Japanese-bottled import? Our guide Is your Japanese whisky actually Japanese? explains the label rules. For the rest of the category, browse the full Japanese Whisky collection, compare Kanosuke with the older houses in Yamazaki and Akashi, or set it next to Islay and Speyside in our Scotch collection.