Japanese distillery stuns with a bold inaugural single malt whisky

Japan’s Kiyokawa Distillery has revealed its inaugural release. The debut bottling is an exclusive single cask whisky with a fitting name: The Cask. It will launch early at a single retailer. This is what you need to know.

Kiyokawa Distillery has bottled its first whisky in Nagano. It’s a single cask that matured for three years in a Pedro Ximénez sherry hogshead. The 450-liter cask was sourced from a nearby bodega.

The distillery enforces strict cask protocols, including a requirement that at least 5 liters of the original liquid remain in the cask upon delivery. That way, the cask arrives fresh and ready for filling.

This inaugural single malt marks a milestone moment for the Japanese distillery.

From day one, Kiyokawa has embraced a farm-to-bottle philosophy, keeping every step on-site. The brand’s first Japanese whisky was distilled in 2022 using estate-grown barley and pristine mountain spring water. The single malt then matured at the distillery, where temperatures can swing dramatically.

These rapid weather shifts drive a dynamic maturation, accelerating the development of aroma, color, and flavor. That’s why The Cask was bottled after three years of aging.

Tasting notes:

It’s bottled at 61.1% alcohol by volume (ABV).

Kiyokawa Distillery has limited the release to 398 bottles, owing to its single cask nature. The whisky officially launches on March 19 and will be available through dekanta.

The whisky comes in a bottle adorned with a special washi paper label and is presented in a wooden box. The price is $319.99 per bottle. It’s not yet clear whether this edition will ship to other countries, though Dekanta often offers international shipping.

What’s your favorite Japanese whisky so far? Let us know in the comments below.