Ohishi Whisky, at the moment, is a single cask product made in Japan from rice and is essentially an uncut barrel aged shochu like Kikori and Fukano. Ohishi Whisky is made at the Ohishi distillery in Kumamoto Japan on the banks of the Kuma River.
Founded in 1872, Ohishi grows 30%+ of the gohyakumanishi rice they distill which they grow as organically as possible and even employ Koi to handle weed control in lieu of herbacide. After being distilled in Ohishi’s stainless steel stills, the new make Ohishi whisky (uncut shochu) is put into either ex-Sherry or ex-Brandy casks and set aside to age until it’s ready to be bottled.
This particular bottle of Ohishi Whisky was put into an ex-Sherry cask and based on the color, aroma and flavor it appears to have been a first-fill. Cask 1257 is dark, rich and, as you’ll see below, an excellent example of just how good Ohishi Whisky can be.
Ohishi Whisky Sherry Cask Info
Region: Kumamoto, Japan
Distiller: Ohishi
Mashbill: 100% Rice
Cask: ex-Sherry (first fill)
Age: NAS
ABV: 43.3%
Cask Strength | Non-Chill Filtered | Natural Color
Barrel: 1257
Price: $72
Ohishi Whisky Sherry Cask Review
EYE
Blood red
NOSE
Sherry! Oaky, ashy, nutty, bits of citrus, grainy sweetness and dried dark fruit and leather. A touch of peppery spice rounds it out nicely and alludes to something that might open more with time, but the initial impression is quite nice.
PALATE
A sherry bomb explodes on the palate sending shrapnel of rich vanilla, citrus, dried dark fruit, oily nuts, ash, oak and a strange but alluring sweetness. Like the aroma it has a bit of pepper to it and hints at opening up to more complexity with time.
FINISH
Long and fueled by sherry with bits of cocoa, dark fruit, ash and spice.
BALANCE, BODY & FEEL
Fantastic sense of balance, round full body and a heavy satisfying feel.
OVERALL
Holy crap this Ohishi Whisky Sherry Cask 1257 is freaking awesome. The aroma and flavor come across like a well matured, first-fill sherry aged, Scotch and in a recent blind Japanese tasting I thought it had to be something like a sherry aged Hakashu. Which, as a side note, the SMWS bottling of from a few years ago is my favorite Japanese whisky of all time and blew away the famous Yamasaki sherry cask in a side by side.
To add some additional perspective here, I’ve had four or five other Ohishi whiskies and while all were interesting and at the very least drinkable, none had the depth and complexity of Ohishi Whisky Sherry Cask 1257. In a recent blind tasting of 34 Japanese whiskies it tied with the Ichiro Mizunara and a 34 year old Kariuzawa as my favorites of the night. The other Ohishis in the tasting came in at varying levels from C – B. Single casks can shift quite a bit, but I know I’ll be watching for more of these ex-Sherry casks to hit the market in hopes of finding another like this Ohishi Whisky Sherry Cask 1257
SCORE: 90-92/100 (A-, not consumed at home)
