This dark dram is distilled from malted and unmalted rice along the Kuma river in Hitoyoshi. The nose is redolent of stewed prunes, raisins, plum wine, and walnut, with a palate of treacle, molasses, burnt sugar, licorice, prune, dark fruits, mocha, praline, and nuttier elements. Skillfully, it never veers into bitterness. This should rock the boat for those who love a huge sherried-style whisky. (506 bottles)

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Spring 2017)

This second batch was sherry matured before a 27–month sakura cask finish; it’s intricate and contemplative. Cherry lozenge, caramelized sugar, black currant, strawberries with cream on puff pastry, rose petal, vanilla icing, apricot, coriander seed, and white pepper, though the aromas can be quite fleeting. The palate glides through gentle honey, strawberry, tingling spices, caramel, stone fruit, light cherry, and hints of red apple. Utterly charming: the Hello Kitty of whiskies. (1,062 bottles)

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Winter 2020)

This is a nuanced delicacy, so tread lightly. It offers a nose of rich apple, oloroso sherry, cranberry, pepper, fennel, star anise, and a touch of milk chocolate. The sherry casks are at play: dark ruby fruits, peppery spice, and cinnamon. The mouthfeel holds steady, with Cola Cubes, stewed blackberry, and apple peels as the spices fall out, ending with cocoa-dusted dried fruits. (1,479 bottles)

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Winter 2017)

Drink this the next time you want a mug of hot chocolate by a roaring peat fire. Whole lemon, earthy chocolaty peat notes, gentle ashy smoke, mocha, and Nutella on the nose, with some deeper sooty charcoal notes. After a 32-month finish in Islay casks, this carries plenty of weight, with flavors of chocolate brownie, dates, cocoa powder, and light ground pepper that intensifies into a riot of smokin’ hot peppercorns. (1,242 bottles)

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Winter 2020)

Sweet honey, pears, melon, and vanilla sponge, with smoke that is both sweet and acrid and cuts through like a knife. Islay knows that delicious combination of sweetness, fruitiness, and smoke very well, and this could be amazing with a firmer, weightier texture. Flavors of watermelon, taffy, squeezed lime, and candied pineapple, with the smoke and meek spices growing in strength, adding smoked chocolate notes before a short finish. (5,000 bottles)

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Fall 2019)

Fully matured in cognac casks for 10 to 13 years, the nose initially has vanilla sugar, dried banana, lemon and lime hard candies, then pineapple chunks, lemon zest, pink peppercorns, and hints of pine floor polish. In contrast, the scrumptious palate is like a plate of homemade cookies, with praline, milk chocolate, dark fruits, caramel sauce, vanilla custard, and chocolate brownies, ending with a dry finish of lightly spiced cookie dough. (2,109 bottles)

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Winter 2020)

The legacy of the cask’s history imparts more smoke than peat. It hasn’t overpowered the spirit, but the whisky is light enough to be put in the shade, with singeing smoke, coal dust, vanilla, and asphalt. Sweet rice, vanilla, honey, and warm spices of ginger root and black peppercorn, before a late arrival of peat. Milk chocolate, burnt driftwood, toffee, and a little residual pepper on the finish. (636 bottles)

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Winter 2017)

The well-balanced nose is terrific, with jasmine-scented candles, banana, peach pit, Banoffee pie, and polished oak, becoming lush and fruity with blackberry, green apple, and fragrant spices. In the swirl of aromas, there’s harmony. Light bodied with satsuma segments, cotton candy, milk and cookies, dried fruits, and fruity candy toward the end. The low filling strength may be the cause of less influence of the mizunara cask over the 24-month finish. (2,004 bottles)

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Winter 2020)

Fantastically nutty sherry notes, like a good amontillado, with aromas of cooking apple, plum, pecan pie, pencil shavings, and wood spices. The sherry cask adds depth, flair, subtlety, and expressiveness to both the nose and palate. To taste, there is orange peel, nuts, crystallized grapefruit peel, fresh plum, clove, and pepper. The sweet light flavors keep it aloft as more base notes help to fill it out. (4,090 bottles)

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Winter 2020)

Components range from 7 to 27 years old, the oldest distilled by the current 6th-generation master distiller’s own father. Pepper, allspice, baked peach, white pepper, vanilla fudge, pancake batter, and orange essence on the nose. Cocoa-dusted red fruits, a burst of spice, then sharp orange, soft fudge, and red apple. Complex and piquant: fermented fruits, chocolate brownie, and creamy coffee to finish. Born to be mild. (1,606 bottles)

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Winter 2020)

Rich amber in color, with aromas of fermented fruits, toasted oak, apple peelings, old parchment paper, golden pancakes, and bright aromatic chili flakes and paprika. A soft, gentle dram that caresses the taste buds with caramelized brown sugar, fudge, vanilla, dried apple, ground almond, and a tang of citrus peel. On the finish, the flavor of apple peelings returns after a brief glow of spice. (1,475 bottles)

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Fall 2019)

Spicy rice crackers, plum sauce, bramble jelly, fragrant oriental spices, and the polished leather of new shoes from this single cask, sherry-matured rice whisky. The syrupy texture bursts with juicy red fruits, plum, red currant, pomegranate, and cooked peach, all bolstered by peppercorns and ground ginger. An enchanting harmony is struck between the fruits and the spice, though the finish is short, with sherry notes and spicy remnants. (660 bottles)

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Spring 2018)

If you are a scotch drinker contemplating your first Japanese rice whisky purchase, this is the one. Dates, Christmas cake, glazed gammon, red cherry, and muted roasted spices show the quality of the cask. Raspberry coulis and cranberry make for a juicy palate that evolves into caramel, fudge, chili, and pepper. Spices rule the finish, the fruit fading quickly. A great introduction to Fukano single casks. (527 bottles)

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Winter 2017)

Baked oat cookie, walnut, allspice, and a hint of rosehip, though the aromas become quite spicy in time, crackling with ground ginger and pepper. The palate has a mouth-drawing, heavy texture and tastes joyously like a liquid toffee apple after two years in the port cask. Supported by flavors of cake mix, sultana, and gentle spices, it has a dry finish of fading fruit and chocolate cake. (1,490 bottles)

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Winter 2020)

This has the warming comfort of cask strength rice pudding, with just enough rice character peeking through the sherry. Marzipan, sultana, fig, and toasted spice. Nutty amontillado notes load up on dried fruits, including apricot, mango, and apples pricked with cloves. The late phase includes black cherry, old leather, cola-flavored candy, and burnt fruitcake. A quick fizzle of spice and dried fig turns slightly savory.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Winter 2017)

The nose has plum flesh, sanded oak, allspice, and walnut shells, but it’s a little undemonstrative. The redemption comes with tasting. Here, lush sherry notes wash over the tongue in waves as it shows dark fruits, plum wine, toffee, fresh fig, sultana, tobacco leaf, walnut, and orange peel. Don’t overlook this whisky; just take a quick sniff, then luxuriate in the fine sherry cask flavors on your taste buds. (888 bottles)—

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Winter 2020)

Lemon, lime, ripening apple, spring florals, clementine, and pear, among lilting sweet brandy notes. Calming, contemplative, and restful aromas. The mouthfeel is slightly musty, almost granular, with creamy light vanilla and juicy lemon and lime. The tip of the tongue burns brightly with warm spices. It grows heavier, the tastes shifting to lemon bonbons as the spice is annulled. A dying gasp of lemon peel, candy sweetness, and aromatic spices.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Winter 2017)