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A collaboration whiskey between Kazuya Yoshii, one of Japan’s leading rock musicians, and Nagahama Distillery.

Kazuya Yoshii’s first encounter with authentic Scottish single malt whisky was at a bar in Scotland that he visited for a photo shoot. He was shocked by the taste of Scotch whisky recommended by a local gentleman, and as he fell in love with the charm of Scotch whisky, “I had a strong desire to make a whisky that reflected my own life someday. Kazuya Yoshii himself was involved in setting the flavor theme, blending, tasting, and barrel selection. This is a world blended whisky, blending malt whisky from Nagahama Distillery with malt whisky and grain whisky from overseas.

The name of the product, “Father,” is the title of a song included in the album “FOUR SEASONS” released by “The Yellow Monkey” with Kazuya Yoshii on vocals and guitar. It was released on August 19, the 50th anniversary of his father’s death.

The Bottle

Blended whisky with additional aging in bourbon barrels and grain whisky in perfect harmony.

The color is a glittering amber. It is gentle on the palate, but still has a gorgeous aroma. Ethereal citrus notes reminiscent of fresh green apples. Caramel, vanilla, and freshly baked orange cake. Oriental spices from the oak, followed by bittersweet bitter chocolate.

An easy drinking whisky that gently blends the sweetness from the bourbon barrels with the clean sweetness of grain whisky.

Our Take

Kazuya Yoshii’s attention to detail is not limited to blending and tasting, but also extends to aging. Bourbon barrels for “Father” and sherry barrels for “Beautiful” were used for additional aging to match the taste of each song. By carefully maturing the whiskey in the Nagahama distillery’s maturation room while listening to each original sound source in the barrels with pure audio without any mixture, we succeeded in imbuing the taste of the whiskey with the world view of each song even more strongly.

I’m sure there are some people who bought this whisky because they are fans of whisky but don’t know much about it. If the whisky is aged in barrels with the music, the fans will be very happy. Please enjoy this whisky while playing the music and thinking about it.

(All Images Courtesy of JPWhisky.net)

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