Kanosuke 2021 First Edition, 58%

West of Kagoshima, this distillery faces the East China Sea alongside Japan’s longest beach. Using unpeated malt distilled in 2017–18, master blender Yoshitsugu Komasa mainly selected recharred American oak shochu casks for this release. A nose of fresh apricot, peach, mandarin, plum, lemon mousse, fruit teas, and white pepper is followed by a palate of intense marmalade flavors, apricot clafoutis, clove, and pepper, with cola, oak, and bourbon biscuits. (2,400 bottles)