Akkeshi Distillery New product release information
The New Born series is a set of four unique expressions highlighting the progress of the Akkeshi Distillery. The final release, a blended spirit with malt and grain. Whole malt spirit is distilled and matured in Akkeshi, grain spirit is distilled in Scotland and matured in Akkeshi. Malt spirit ratio is over 60% of the bottle. Sherry cask matured spirit ratio is over 50% of malt spirit, and Hokkaido barley(called “Ryofu.”) malt spirit ratio is over 5% of malt spirit. It could draws attention to the terrain maturation process.
Bottled at a strength of 48% this expression shows classic aromatic notes of TV-orange, raisins, citrus, bananas, and maple syrup like sweetnesses. The taste profile has salt caramel, raisin butter, marmalade sweetness, spicy like white peppers, bitter like dark chocolate, and sweetness.
We hope you equally enjoy this follow up release and feel relax and Hokkaido taste.
Product summary;
Product name: AKKESHI NEW BORN FOUNDATIONS 4
Volume: 200mL
Price: 3800JPY without tax
ABV: 48%
Release date: 29th August 2019
゜〇゜〇゜〇゜〇゜〇゜〇゜〇゜〇゜〇゜〇゜〇゜〇゜
Going great lengths for quality whisky
Message from the Akkeshi Distillery to whisky lovers who are trying Akkeshi whisky
for the first time.
Malt whisky is made only from barley, water, and yeast.
The Akkeshi Distillery was founded based on the aspirations of our President Toita for
producing whiskies like Islay Malt. Bearing this in mind, we set the following 3 conditions
in selecting our operating location.
1. A place with quality water filtrated through the peat beds, similar to the water used at
distilleries in the Isle of Islay;
2. A place where there is a good environment for maturation, similar to the Isle of Islay;
3. A place where oysters are caught, also similar to the Isle of Islay.
Through the exploration of such place in Japan, we found our way through to the Town of Akkeshi in Hokkaido, a fishing town famous for oysters which is characterized by its cold,moist climate with a sea fog enveloping the entire area. We can also obtain quality water near the Kushiro Marsh that is filtrated through the peat beds. Lake Akkeshi and the Bekanbeushi Marsh in the town have been registered under the Ramsar Convention on the 5 th of June, 1993. This designation is part of the reasons for producing whisky in this particular town as this ensures the sustainable conservation of the affluent and beautiful natural environment around the distillery. We are determined to protect and harmonize with its rich natural surroundings.Since 2016, we uphold the following basic concept in whisky production, “Maximize the quality and taste of new born spirits prior to casking.”
We don’t believe in any magic that can transform poor quality new make spirits to tasty products after a few years of maturation in casks.” Instead, we think that the quality and taste of whisky originates from its pre-maturation conditions.
Currently, we are fine-tuning the malt-grinding method in the milling process in order to ensure constant grinding conditions, as well as the way of mixing malt with hot water and other relevant factors such as temperature in the mashing process. We also make sure to take extra time (5 days) in the lactic acid fermentation. Thanks to these efforts, we are getting closer to achieving the goal, “Maximize the quality and taste of whisky prior to casking.”
Our future goal is to realize the “Akkeshi All-Stars,” which means to completely localize whisky production at the Akkeshi distillery, using Akkeshi-grown barley that is malted with locally-procured peat, distilled, and then matured in barrels made of locally-sourced Mizunara oak. This is what we consider to be our ultimate made-in-Akkeshi whisky. We will also intensify our efforts to utilize barley grown in Hokkaido (Furano, Nakashibetsu) as raw materials.
In 2018, we tested barley made in Hokkaido, and it was priced twice as much as that from Scotland and its alcoholic yield obtained was 80-90%. Although this barley was quite expensive, its flavor and taste had some distinctive Japanese characters such as Unshu mandarin orange, grilled chestnuts, and syrup taken from grilled sweet potatoes. We believe that this will become a product representative of the Japanese whisky. Therefore, we are planning to use barley grown in Hokkaido as raw materials for about 10% of our whiskies from 2019 onwards.
Using the traditional whisky-making techniques and skills fostered in Scotland, we produce our whisky with strong commitment and earnest devotion.
We appreciate your continuous patronage and support in our journey.
Manager of the Hokkaido AKKESHI Distillery , Kenten Co., Ltd.