Ohishi Sherry Single Cask Whisky

What do you get when you distill rice, age it in sherry casks, not once but twice? I would venture to say, you get a sherry infused whisky (I think I have learned from here that the barrel does influence the distillate, lol). I guess the truer question(s) is how well does the barrel influence the distillate? Does the type of grain used make a difference? A rich, dark amber color with a touch of gold. The sherry aromas pop. Reminiscent of Glendronach or Macallan. Raisins, figs and cinnamon and soft leather. There is a nutty aroma of almonds and/or walnuts with a gentle sweetness. Brown sugar, caramel and vanilla. Brings me, in my minds eye, to a crisp November day; autumn colors; pumpkins, gords and straw. Light and bright with a sweet bite. Sherry forward, though almost cognac-like rounded with sweetness. Raisins, cinnamon infused maple syrup, brown sugar and black cherries. The cinnamon provides a small prickly and spicy sensation. All the flavors, like the color, are rich and deep, in contrast to the mouthfeel. As it fades, the oak drying tannins encompass the palate with dark stone fruits and raisins and vanilla that fade after a medium length of time. A rice whisky that smells and drinks more of a scotch or cognac. Dense and rich in flavor. A pour for a day when you can cozy up, grab a good book/Kindle or mild cigar, slow time and take in the aromas and flavors. The choice of casks was a perfect pairing to the rice grain used as the basis of the lightweight rice distillate. This is a good pour. I don’t know what this retails for or if it’s readily available. But this was one I will remember and am glad I had the chance to taste. Thanks @PBMichiganWolverine for this sample, back as an extra from the SDT days. [90/100][Tasted: 4/10/21]

For my last pour of the night, the bar trotted out some of their Japanese offerings. I noted they were afflicted with the scourge of Kurayoshi et al. and was going to brush them off until I saw something I hadn’t seen before: Ohishi Single Sherry Cask. Something completely different for $11 a pour? Why not! This is a very different whisky animal if you can even call it whisky, but I like what they’re trying to do. However, this strikes me a very young grain whisky with some reasonable-quality Sherry casks to cover up those obvious flaws. It has nice nutty notes, but an unbalanced, overpowering Sherry influence. I also can’t overlook the young, grainy, and slightly unpleasant mouthfeel and finish reminiscent of something like a poor-quality, grainy vodka. I can’t give out participation points, but this might be worth revisiting in a couple of years if they had an age-stated bottling to try. (Although who would be able to afford it with an age statement?) For now though, I would avoid this bottle at the $70-$80 price tags I see. This bottle gets a 2.5 from me, and personally I would stick with some Nigori.

Before reading anything about this, I found the nose to be unpleasant, full of waxy milk with a slight bazooka joe gum quality plus something else I couldn't quite put my finger on. As soon as I read that this had a partial rice mashbill, I realized that it reminded me uncannily of coconut sake (specifically Momokawa) but still in an unpleasant way. Extremely soft rice notes on the palate with bursts of hard candy sweetness, plus with a distinct spice and oak char quality I associate with older brandy. There is definitely a sake like quality to this, which I view as a negative in whiskey. The waxiness in the nose also appears in the taste, which I don't love. It occurs to me that this reminds me a lot of a homemade rice wine / liquor that my parents used to make when I was growing up. I didn't like that stuff then, and - with those bad memories coming through - I don't like this now.

A balanced, Rice Whisky by the Ohishi Distillery in Lowlands, Japan 'they grow a unique strain of rice for production called “gohyakumanishi” (5 million stones) & use koi to cultivate their crop; distilled in traditional Japanese stainless-steel pot stills then matured in ex-sherry & brandy casks, in the mountainous Japanese countryside. This Ohishi Sherry Cask is a blend of casks anywhere from 3 to 25 years old. It has a delicate birth with notes of Sherry, dried fruit, baking spices, oak, nuts, citrus, grains, pepper, brown sugar & dried flowers; while a balanced life adds dried cherries, apricots, vanilla, oak, citrus, flora & spice notes; that led to a delicate finish with notes of cocoa & grain. April / August 2019 / January 2021 / August 2022

TLDR: Light and hollow without much going on beyond the Sherry pop The nose seems strangely empty with only light notes of 'warm wood' which I imagine is the Sherry Cask and a sharper astringent edge. This might as well be 'anything' - it manages to be smooth and inoffensive on the tongue but lacks any real flavor punch beyond the sherry and I struggle to believe that it was in a cask for 8 years. The pale straw color only enforcing this feeling. I get almost nothing on the finish with zero peeking out in the back of the mouth or palate. My understanding is this is effectively barrel aged shochu (Mashbill: 100% Rice) and maybe it's just not going to be to my taste in Whiskey. I'm sad I paid $70 for this bottle.

The sherry is semi-sweet, with more emphasis on cooked vegetables, dried stone fruits, herbal tea, medicinal cherry, and cooked cereal. It's complex, yet restrained--gentle even. In the palate, there's more cherry, vanilla, cooked nuts, raspberry, and green tea. However, the finish is where it gets interesting. Here the rice takes hold and a characteristic sake element emerges. There's dry plum wine and some mulling spices, but the rice note is very distinctive. Mouthfeel is light and finish is medium-short, but smooth.