Kanosuke Single Malt
Kanosuke started in 2018, named after the leader of the Kanosuke Komasa. The distillery is located in the southern Kagoshima Prefecture of Japan, along Fukiagehama Beach. Each of their three copper pot stills is of a different design, allowing them greater blending opportunities since the distillate off each would be somewhat different. One can maybe get a sense of their aim by acknowledging their distillery motto: “Japanese whisky, richer and more mellow.” They produce pot still and blended whiskies in addition to single malts and are in the midst of releasing batch offerings by year. The Kanosuke Single Malt is the current flagship whisky of the distillery, the third batch of which was released in 2023. It is made using a blend of single malts from all three pot stills, though curiuously the grain is never specifically named. We presume it is barley.
Bowmore 12 Year
Bowmore distillery was founded in 1779 by John P. Simson before ownership passed to the Mutter family, who held it until the distillery closed in 1915 for ten years, before being purchased and passing through various hands during the 20th Century before falling under a subsidiary of the current owner, Bean Suntory. This conglomorate has a vast spirits portfolio that includes, just in Scotland, the Ardmore, Auchentoshan, Bowmore, Glen Garioch, and Laphroaig distilleries, along with producing the McClelland’s single malt range. It has an annual production capacity of two million liters and the waste heat from the distillation process heats a nearby public swimming pool built in a former warehouse. Through a combination of longevity of operations and careful management, Bowmore currently houses the oldest and most diverse set of whiskies on Islay. The Bowmore 12 is the benchmark of the distillery’s core range, and features maturation in both ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks.
Laphroaig Càirdeas 2023
Laphroaig has been creating Càirdeas (Gaelic for “friendship”) expressions since 2008, experimenting with with cask finishes or cask strength versions of older offerings. The Càirdeas 2023 is unique in that it combines two different casks not often seen in whisky maturation. Three quarters of the scotch is aged in second-fill Madeira casks. Madeira is a Portuguese island famous for producing fortified wine. The remaining quarter of the scotch is matured in first-fill port casks, the majority of which were of white port. Port is a fortified wine from the Duoro valley of Portugal, and white port uses white wine grapes instead of red. Therefore, this Càirdeas represents influences from multiple Portugeuse fortified wines.