First up, I was greeted by the front reception and the visitor centre. On display was a multitude of gins, whiskies and liqueurs across Sakurao’s history, from core expressions to distillery-only limited releases.

As I was a bit early, I explored the visitor centre. Perhaps one of the most interesting facets about this visitor centre was the iPad kiosk that you could browse for more information – information of Sakurao’s gins and whiskies to even cocktail recipes.

I also found a bottle of 2003 bottling of (then named) Chugoku’s Glory whisky, displayed in case beside the tasting bar.

Do not perceive that reflection.

I was joined with three other visitors that day, and Hugh Cann was the guide for us that afternoon.  

Distillery No. 1

Hugh gave us a bit more of the backstory of Daruma Shochu. The building used to house and distil shochu but has since been decommissioned. However, it’s tall, slightly imposing silhouette against the town has made it a local landmark.

The Daruma Shochu building towers over the town. You’ll spot it from miles away!

Upon entering the gate, there’s an interesting, green-copper object that rests in front of the black warehouse. This old copper still was used in the 1930s, when then Chugoku Brewery was experimenting and producing gins and whiskies. The exact recipes and products has been lost to time, but the almost century old stills are a call back to Chugoku’s humble beginnings.

Off the distance, there are barrels filled with distillate, waiting to be rolled into warehouses.

I mentioned Distillery No. 1, that’s because Sakurao has two stills ongoing. As far as I know, Distillery No. 1 distills gin and malt whisky, while Distillery No. 2 distills grain whisky.

There’s two hybrid stills within Distillery No. 1, and luck has it that we caught (once again) fresh distillate being made. The warehouse had an aroma of green apples, boiling wort (the clear liquid that is later distilled) and ripened pears. Here, we’re treated to a short movie, “The Winds of Hiroshima”, that detailed the origins of Sakurou’s gins and whiskies.

And, like any distillery that does gin, laid in front of us were their key botanicals. Sakurao uses a mix of Hiroshima-native botanicals and imported botanicals. I find that Sakurao’s choice of botanicals particularly interesting – instead of the usual spices, herbs and fruits of plants, they’ve included different species of wood and even oyster shells into their gins (also that Hiroshima is famous for their oysters, and believe me, they’re super delicious).

The display of gin botanicals alongside the still at the back.

Hiroshima is well known for their citrus fruits – if you head out to a souvenir shop at Hiroshima train station, you’ll see no shortage of lemon cookies and cakes. In Sakurao’s gins, navel oranges, natusmikan (summer oranges) and daidai 臭橙 (bitter orange) are common native botanicals featured.

Navel Orange, Natusmikan and Daidai, all from Hiroshima. Source: Sakurao Distillery

There are a few botanicals that really interested and stood out to me, one of them being the kuromoji  （Lindera umbellateクロモジ）. Kuromoji stems are harvested for their aromatic properties, and extracts of kuromoji have been used for aromatic, healing and medicinal properties for a few centuries. To me, kuromoji has a scent that sits in between pine and sandalwood.

Kuromoji plant and the botanical samples at Sakurao. Source: 18^th.co

The other botanical of interest was cypress wood shavings, or hinoki 檜. The cypress wood shavings has a lemony, bright yet unmistakeably woody smell – like rubbing Indian borage on a piece of wood (very specific, I know. The scent is just that unique!).

Cypress (Hinoki) and the samples from Sakurao Distillery. Source: BartokDesign

Last but not least is native juniper berries harvested off the mountains of Hiroshima. I’m a big sucker for native botanicals, and it’s always exciting to know that native versions of commonplace botanicals are getting the limelight. Sakurao has also used the leaves of the juniper trees, another interesting addition to the typical gin line-up of botanicals.

Native juniper of Hiroshima. Source: Sakurao Distillery

We were then brought to Distillery No. 2 – no photos were allowed here, so we’ll skip this part out.

Sakurao Warehouse

The next pit stop was the warehouse. As I visited the distillery between late spring and early summer, the warehouse was quite chilly, shielding away the barrels from the afternoon sun. In here, the Sakurao whiskies are being aged.

Quick recap again: Sakurao distillery is now making two types of whiskies, with their barrels in different aging environments. The one where we’re at now sits close to the coast, where temperatures vary greatly between the lowest point in winter and the highest point in summer. Not only does the high temperature difference accelerate the aging process, it also introduces sea breeze and sea spray to the whiskies.

Sakurao Single Malt. Source: Sakurao Distillery

The other warehouse is aging whisky in Togouchi, under a decommissioned railway tunnel where the environment is kept a constant cool – “absorbing the natural environment” of the surrounding forests and mountains.

Togouchi Single Malt. Source: Sakurao Distillery

Over at this warehouse that is holding the Sakurao single malt, the malt whiskies are currently aging on traditional dunnage, with grain whiskies aging on pallets towards the back of the warehouse.

And now, towards the tasting!

Tasting Room

Hugh led us back to the visitor centre, towards the tasting bar. Each of us is given a sniffer glass with the Sakurao distillery logo imprinted on it. A welcome gift – you can never have too many sniffer glasses.

We were given three out of six spirits to choose from. And naturally, I went for the stuff that you could only get at Sakurao Distillery.

Sakurao Premium Floral Gin White Herbs Limited Release 47%

This gin is only available for purchase at the Sakurao Distillery visitor centre as far as I knew. To mark the fifth anniversary of Sakurao Distillery’s establishment, the botanicals chosen for this gin is meant to be reminiscent of a white flower bouquet. The seven botanicals used were: lemon leaf, white rose, elder flowers, vanilla bean, marjoram, clove and lavender, the first three being sourced from Hiroshima itself.

Nose: It starts off with that familiar juniper aroma, but gives way to that aged, slightly spicy and honeylike aroma of elderflower. The more you let the gin sit in the sniffer glass, the more it resembles lilies in bloom – that intoxicating, sweet aroma that quickly fills up an enclosed space.

Taste: It’s sweet, and the first flavour I get is sweetened elderflower tea. There is some zesty orange flavours that come through as well, but the more I sip this the more the floral flavours take over.

Finish: It gets a bit more confectionery and sugar-like. There is a lingering aroma of jasmine and white tea astringency, but the overall finish remains on the sweeter side.

Hugh mentions that this gin practically flies out of the shelves amongst the locals, and I can see why. The floral, sweet gin is easy on most palates. For those who like flowers, this might be a good one!

Malt New Make 63.5%

Nose: The aromas really resemble freshly brewed light ale, with that cluster of volatile, fruity and boozy aromas. It’s also very bready and wheaty, like a premium shokupan or fortified sliced bread. There is a hint of ripened pears too.

Taste: The flavours are much more akin to orchard fruits. I get apple and pears – those that have been ripened for a long time. There is also some oatmeal flavours that come through as well.

Finish: The stewed pear finish comes through at first, becoming more cooked and dense comparing to the initial tasting. There is some corn and caramel candy that develops after a while, though they are subtle.

Miyanoshika Distillery Exclusive 50%

Ah… I deeply apologise – my camerawork has failed me on this bottle. The Miyanoshika is a limited 3000 bottle release by Sakurao distillery. The Miyanoshika refers to the mythical deer that bless the nature and forests of Hiroshima, “vetting” the whiskies in the warehouses of Sakurao by having a few sips of their own (a romanticized story of angel’s share).

A better picture of the Miyanoshika. Source: Whiskybase

Nose: Marmalade, vanilla, and cooked citrus fruits are what I get in the initial nosing. There is also the toasty yet cakey aroma of sweetened plain biscuits as well, which reminds me of Marine biscuits in particular.

Taste: Lightly steeped oolong tea at first, before giving way to a more wheat-y bite. Surprisingly, there isn’t much fruity flavours on the taste.

Finish: The finish is more akin to oat porridge and oatmeal. There is that slight nuttiness from wheat bran, roasted macadamia nuts and almonds. The finish evolves to more heavily toasted bread.

And that concludes my tour at Sakurao! I think Sakurao is a good short-getaway from the busier streets of Hiroshima city. Also, it is along the way to Miyajimaguchi station along the electric tram line, where the port is to go towards Miyajima island.

This was roughly 7pm at Miyajima.

One way to go about it is to visit Miyajima in late morning, then make your way to Sakurao. Or, you could visit Sakurao first before going to Miyajima, but beware that by the time you arrive at Miyajima, it will be close to sunset and much daylight hours would be gone.

Do give Sakurao Distillery a visit and tell them 88Bamboo sent you!

@vernoncelli