Amahagan edition No 2 red wine wood finish world malt Vol.47% Cl.70

The Amahagan red wine wood finish whiskey is the second edition of world malts from the Japanese Nagahama distillery.

Make no mistake, "World Malt Edition No.2 red wine wood finish" 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 and limited editions aged in different barrels of Springbank whiskeys!

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 and aged in barrels, different but extremely refined.

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

Scottish single malts are aged in barrels that previously contained French red wine.

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

Carefully selected whiskeys from overseas are blended with the prized Nagahama Newmake and matured in the climate of the Far East.

The strong difference in temperature and the use of former red wine barrels creates a special type of maturation.

That's why the series is called World Malts.

Tasting Notes:

Nose: red fruit and raisins accompanied by notes of vanilla and custard, there is a subtle spicy aroma of lemon with some toasted oak.

Palate: jam tart with sweet pastry and red fruits, cherry jam and spices.

Finish: toffee caramel accompanied by notes of vanilla, oak and spices.