Kurayoshi 8 Year Old

Mar 25

With Kurayoshi, we now come to the not-so-secret dirty-little-secret of Japanese whisky. Allow me to bury the lede: as I mentioned a few reviews back, Japan is a mountainous country ill-adept for cultivating barley and wheat. So, they grew rice instead. This was a product of culture, geography, topography, influences from China, Korea, and broadly East Asian cultures.

Japan has a deserved - and earned - reputation for importing something (could be cultural, gastronomic, language, anything) and improving upon it in some way. It’s part of the Japanese ethos to respect tradition while improving upon it. Sometimes it’s incremental, sometimes it’s dramatic, but the improvement is always done with respect for where it started. My favorite example of this is kintsugi, the art of taking broken pottery (or, if you’re in a jam, breaking a vase) and reassembling it with gold-laced or gold-tinted adhesive. The result is beautiful and captures both the original art as well as the aesthetic improvement.

But anyway, back to whisky. I always go on tangents. Kurayoshi comes from the Matsui Shizo distillery near the base of Mount Daisen, a volcano that borders the Sea of Japan north of Kyoto. Volcanic soil = good crops and good water.

Just like Kentucky brags about its limestone-filtered water, Kurayoshi (and much of Japan!) can brag about their water filtered by volcanic soil and stone until it’s soft and delicious. Bring in ex-bourbon casks and you’ve got a great sipping whisky that’s bright and refreshing, especially with a bit of sparkling water in the summer.

Kurayoshi 8 Year Old: Specs

Classification: Japanese Whisky

Origin: Matsui Shuzo Distillery

Mashbill: 100% Malted Barley (Scottish Import)

Proof: 92 (46% ABV)

Age: 8 Years Old

Location: Tottori Prefecture, Japan

Kurayoshi 8 Year Old Price: $80

Official Website

Kurayoshi 8 Year Old Review: Tasting Notes

Eye: Golden straw. Medium-thin rims with quick legs.

Nose: Tons of green apple tartness. White wine acidity. Green apple and watermelon Jolly Ranchers if they were made with real fruit, black licorice opening up with air.

Palate: Tartness right up front that mellows to a mild green apple flavor and strong maltiness. Bounces around the mouth to keep you interested. Mouthfeel is coating, medium-light, almost Scottish to be honest with a bit more acidity/brightness.

Finish: Medium-length, fruity and drying.

Overall: Very good, if a bit simple. The most intriguing note is the mouthfeel and subsequent flavor that immediately brought me to the Scottish highlands.

Final Rating: 6.3

10 | Insurpassable | Nothing Else Comes Close (Blanton’s Straight from the Barrel)

9 | Incredible | Extraordinary (GTS, Elijah Craig Barrel Proof B518 and B520)

8 | Excellent | Exceptional (12+YO MGP Bourbon, Highland Park Single Barrels)

7 | Great | Well above average (Blanton’s Original, Old Weller Antique, Booker’s)

6 | Very Good | Better than average (Four Roses Small Batch Select, Knob Creek 14+ YO Picks)

5 | Good | Good, solid, ordinary (Elijah Craig Small Batch, Buffalo Trace, Old Grand-Dad Bottled-in-Bond)

4 | Sub-par | Many things I’d rather have (A.D. Laws Four Grain, Compass Box “Oak Cross”)

3 | Bad | Flawed (Iron Smoke Bourbon, Balcones)

2 | Poor | Forced myself to drink it (Buckshee Bourbon and Rye)

1 | Disgusting | Drain pour (Virginia Distilling Co. Cider Cask)