AkashiSingleMaltWhisky(500mL)

<p>A light and delicate Japanese Single Malt from a legendary producer.</p><p>Eigashima Shuzo Ltd. is a small company with a HUGE history — but you have to dig a bit to find it. <em>This family business was established in 1679</em>, and was one of the most important businesses in Japan during the Meiji Period. Real Samurai, Shogun, Ninjas, and Japanese Emperors drank their products. <em>They started making Sake and Shochu in 1888</em>. And even thought they received a license to make Whiskey in 1919, they didn’t start using it until 1984 — initially just for local consumption. <em>They make a wide range of traditional Japanese beverages and Whiskies in their White Oak Distillery</em>, located along the sea-shore about twenty-five miles west of Osaka in the town of Hyogo.</p><p>Ten months out of each year, <em>the White Oak Distillery produces Sake and Shochu exclusively</em>. So all of their Whisky production happens in just two months. <em>Eigashima’s most popular Whisky is their Akashi Blend</em>. But they also produce a few precious runs of their Akashi Single Malt — which is then divided up between their finished-woods and Whisky blends. That means that there is jut not a lot of this dram to go around. <em>Technically, it’s a marriage of their Single Malt in three different agings — seven, five, and four year-old</em> — from three different cask types — Spanish Sherry, New American Oak, and ex-Bourbon. It’s bottled at a perfect 46% ABV.</p><p><u>Smartass Corner:</u><em>Bottles of Whiskies created by neighborhood distilleries for local consumption are called “ji-whisky.” The Japanese word “ji” means “local.”</em></p>