Amahagan edition No 1 world malt Vol.47% Cl.70

Amahagan whiskey is the world's first edition of malts from the Japanese Nagahama distillery.

Make no mistake, "World Malt Edition No.1" is not a Japanese whiskey.

The distillery team bought whiskey from "different distilleries" and created a series of blended Japanese malt whiskeys called Amagahan.

Nagahama Distillery was founded in 2016 and prides itself on being the smallest distillery in Japan.

The small team operates in an area of ​​twenty-six and a half square meters.

2016 saw an unprecedented increase in the number of whiskey distilleries in Japan.

About six distilleries started production and three of these were part of already functioning breweries.

The Nagahama Distillery is one of those distilleries which is an extension of the Nagahama Roman Brewery and therefore the creation of this distillery was quite simple and quick.

It took only seven months to complete the installation of the stills and distillery.

Nagahama Distillery is located in the quaint town of Shiga and is owned by Liquor Mountain, a local dealer.

The distillery took inspiration from Scotland and two distilleries in particular.

Strathearn and Eden Mill were fairly small distilleries and were considered new, Strathearn being one of the smallest in Scotland.

The Nagahama distillery uses the same stills as Strathearn being Hoga Stills which are equipped with still heads and traditionally used to make calvados, cognac or pisco.

Produced by Hoga Stills in Portugal, they are preferred by many smaller artisanal distillers, particularly in the United States.

They are cheaper than traditional stills and faster to deliver than Forsyths.

The distillery boasts a fermentation of 60 hours and the must is around 400 kg.

The Nagahama distillery mainly uses ex Bourbon American oak barrels to mature their peaty and non-peaty spirit and the barrels are filled to 59% vol.

Think Springbank!

To help make the distillery a sustainable project and to allow the team to practice whiskey blending, the distillery team purchased whiskey from "different distilleries" and created a series of blended Japanese malt whiskeys called Amagahan (the Nagahama name on the contrary, what a spirit!)

This malt whiskey series has four versions and all are made with barley malt.

The distillery specifies that it uses whiskey imported mainly from Scotland but the origin remains a secret.

If your nose and palate are refined enough you should be able to detect where it comes from.

The Malt Amahagan range of whiskey world contains liquid from the Nagahama distillery itself, we have no idea how much, and the percentages of the compound are not declared.

That said, the ingredients don't list wheat, so use only malt whiskey.

Tasting Notes:

Nose: Tropical fruit of mango and pineapple, there is a subtle spicy lemon aroma with some toasted or charred oak.

Palate: lemon tart with sweet pastry and tropical fruits, orange marmalade and Christmas spices.

Finish: lemon citrus, charred oak and spices.