Kanosuke Single Malt Review

By Richard Thomas

Rating: B

Ever since the entire category of Japanese Whisky (finally) blew up and attracted international, popular acclaim more than a decade ago, the category has been beset by a shortage of aged stocks of whisky that has put classic brand names like Nikka and Yamazaki out of reach of most consumers. If a punter thinks Blanton’s is overpriced and hard to find, allow me to introduce you to Yamazaki 12 Year Old!

That shortage has attracted all manner of new brands seeking to capitalize on the shortage and on Japan’s notoriously weak whisky laws. Until 2021, there were no laws governing the category, so the newcomers were often blending Japanese whisky or non-whisky spirits with imports. As a rule, if the name on Japanese whisky label was unknown one had to be as suspicious as if it were an unknown Indian whisky.

But in Kanosuke, we have a new name with a legitimate single malt made entirely in Japan. The distillery opened in 2017 in Kagoshima Prefecture, located along the southern coast of Japan’s southernmost major island. They have adopted a new twist on a very Japanese approach to whisky-making. Although Japan follows the Scottish model, Japanese whisky-making culture emphasizes keeping production in-house and not cooperating or trading with rivals. It’s not uncommon for a Japanese distillery to have a collection of pot stills with different design features, rather than the customary identical set.

Kanosuke built a triple set of pot stills, but that is not because they were following the Irish triple distillation model. Instead, each pot still has a different design, so each brings different characteristics out of the same wort. The result is the distillery has added flexibility in producing new make spirit, as they can mix and match the stripping and spirit runs on the pot still. If Kanosuke grows in renown, it’s easy to see whisky enthusiasts nerding out about the different combinations from their still set, but for now they are too new and we’re all too unfamiliar with the details.

Their flagship is the Kanosuke Single Malt. The whisky, first released two years ago (hence no more than six years old and bearing no age statement) is unpeated, and blended from whiskies that draw on all three pot stills. The whiskies resulting were matured in casks of American white oak previously used for aging shochu and charred again.

The Whisky
The look of the whisky in the glass is golden. The nose leads with its malty honey first and foremost, but also a helping of toffee. Behind that is a strong note of vanilla and a weak note of nectarine. The flavor spins out from there, becoming less distinctive as it goes. The honey and toffee twine together to become golden syrup; the nectarine turns into a more generalized stone fruit note. The vanilla holds steady, and the liquid has a pleasantly creamy texture to it. The finish has the most complexity: it takes on a bit of pepper and carries it all the way through, but the larger statement is made by a honey-vanilla sweetness that gives way to something like a bale of straw lying on damp, earthy clay. That bigger presences transitions and fades away rapidly, leaving just the dash of pepper behind.

The Price
A good start to a proper newcomer in Japanese Whisky, their single malt goes for between $85 and $90 in my survey of online retailers. If that seems steep, compare it to what other entry level Japanese single malts go for. It’s actually on par, if not a bit less.