Shizuoka United S First Edition Vol.50,5% Cl.70

The Shizuoka United S single malt is a marriage of the distillery's two distinct styles.

As you know, the K indicates the old Karuizawa still, while the W refers to a custom-made wood-fired still.

On the other hand, S indicates the mixture of both distillates from the two stills present in the Shizuoka distillery.

The first uses partially peated barley and the second was produced in a still at the legendary Karuizawa distillery, using Japanese barley.

Together, these styles created bright citrus notes, softened by caramel and cocoa and punctuated by black pepper on the palate.

Shizuoka United S, which is mainly used in Japan, is the first longer-aged release of the Shizuoka Contact S blend whiskey which is the third whiskey to come out of the Shizuoka distillery.

The distillery is one of the fastest and most famous rising stars in Japanese whisky.

The distillery is located high in the Japanese mountains in Shizuoka's Tamagawa district, not far from Mount Fuji.

The architecture is modern and Taiko Nakamura, founder of Shizuoka and president of Gaia Flow, has gone to great lengths to make the distillery stand out in multiple ways.

Not only the appearance of the building, but also in terms of Shizuoka's production.

Whiskey Shizuoka United S is a blend in pure Japanese style, rather delicate and soft.

Some will say it's very balanced, while I think it's slightly less typical because the elements of each style are washed out a bit.

The vanilla and oak honey manage to overcome the more unique elements in the spirit.

Shizuoka United S First Edition is a limited edition to collect, given the few bottles produced and the high quality of this Japanese whisky.

Tasting Notes:

Color: gold, straw yellow.

Perfumes: interesting. First of all there is the typical freshness of the gin that I associate with Shizuoka, with mint leaves, fennel seeds and wild herbs. A little sweetness from apples and nectarines. Then also sesame crackers, vanilla and something slightly milky, hints of toasted bread, nougat and biscuits.

Taste: a rather dense, fresh and herbaceous entry, with many yeasty notes. Some beer-like notes before moving towards caramel notes, toffee and a honeyed maltiness. Hints of freshly baked pastries, orange peel and mixed oriental spices.

Finish: medium length, with sweetness of barley, cumin and pepper. Some umami notes in the background.