Our first encounter with Japan's "Islay" distillery - Akkeshi!

Akkeshi, based in the town of the same name in Hokkaido up in northern Japan, has outlined early on its desire to be the Islay whisky equivalent for Japan. It makes sense given Hokkaido has availably its own peat (in fact a unique composition different from Scotland's coastal Islay peat or earthier heathery Highland peat) and the sheer global popularity of Islay's peat driven whiskies. It's quite remarkable then that Akkeshi was able to hone in on this profile early on and that no other distillery in Japan appears to have tried to capture the same spot - more on this in abit.

The distillery is actually the second in Hokkaido (with a third on the way from a different entity), the first being Yoichi Distillery, a rather historic distillery in the Japanese whisky lore as part of the Nikka group, and was started by Kenten Company which appears to be a food products trading business. To that end, Akkeshi had decided to debut its whiskies in a rather interesting manner - in the form of an alternating 24 part series that tracks a traditional Japanese solar term cycle. Accordingly, in Japanese tradition, the year can be split into 24 solar terms that represent various seasons through the year. Akkeshi has thus decided to produce 24 whiskies each named after one of the 24 solar terms until all 24 editions are released.

To make matters alittle more confusing, the releases from not follow the 24 solar terms chronologically. Rather, they will be sporadic - for example Kanro, the 1st Akkeshi release, is the 17th solar term and happens in early October, whilst Usui, the 2nd Akkeshi release, is the 2nd solar term and happens in mid February. To add another layer to that - Akkeshi will release a Japanese single malt produced at their distillery for every odd-numbered release, whilst every even-numbered release will be a world blended expression. Therefore Kanro, the 1st Akkeshi release is a Japanese single malt made entirely by Akkeshi, but Usui, the 2nd Akkeshi release is a world blend expression made with whiskies sourced from elsewhere including outside of Japan.

It's really some 4D chess Akkeshi is playing.

For that reason (and plus Akkeshi has always priced their whiskies rather premium-ly), I think Akkeshi might have found it alittle tricky to keep collectors enthused because of how complex it is. Nevertheless, the distillery did enjoy some early popularity because it was said that some of their whiskies displayed a strong strawberry note. We'll just have to see for ourselves.

Perhaps more important though is for us to circle back to the topic of peat. While Akkeshi has sought to be the Islay of Japanese whiskies, at the time they had started producing their own whiskies, they weren't able to use Hokkaido peat just yet, and so for the earlier releases still had to rely on imported peat. Worth noting though is that they do peat their own malt, as opposed to importing already peated malt or using something like an ex-Islay whisky cask to impart some peatiness which has been popular with a number of other Japanese distilleries.

Ishikari Plain.

And so unfortunately the claim to being the first to use Hokkaido peat still goes to Yoichi, which according to Japanese whisky blog Nomunication, has been using peat from the Ishikari Plain for some time. However, what's fortunate for Akkeshi is that Yoichi has never sought to be branded as a peat-focused whisky, but rather was always modelled off Scotland Longmorn, where Nikka's founder Masataka Taketsuru had trained at. Since April of 2020, Akkeshi had begun to harvest peat from a private estate within the Akkeshi-cho area and thus has increasingly moved towards using local peat in fulfilling their Islay ambitions which is still up for grabs.

Accordingly Akkeshi is also quite the stickler for protocol and will follow closely to the international gold standard which is the Scotch whisky regulations, and I've even been told that the distillery is incredibly stringent on not allowing visitors to take photos as they please (you'll have to register a memory card and use a distillery provided camera, after which the distillery will vet the images before sending them to you) and also on cleanliness as visitors have to wear clean suits. Even when it comes to the topic of single casks, Akkeshi apparently disagrees with the releasing single casks which it believes to be "unbalanced" and that their whisky should ideally be harmoniously blended.

So not exactly the most easygoing distillery, but for all the work if you ever do visit them, there's a single restaurant nearby (where the distillery mostly sits on barren land) that apparently serves great oysters. 

With all of that said, it's time to try Akkeshi's debut whisky - the Kanro. This is the first Akkeshi release - it's fully distilled at Akkeshi and is a proper Japanese single malt. It is a blend of Akkeshi whisky aged in Bourbon, Sherry, Wine and Mizunara casks, aged for at least three years.

Akkeshi Kanro Single Malt Whisky Peated, 55% ABV

Tasting Notes

Aroma: An aromatic smokiness, cold and sweet ash, backed up by some vanilla cream, or a cream mousse - quite buttery. There’s a slight brininess to it, oyster shells, iodine, sweet lemons. Some earthiness too in the form of dried herbs, soil, burnt wood tinder, spent charcoal. Gentle bit of incense, or a sort of room made with cedar wood.

Taste: Very malty, lots of toffee, but with a backdrop of the same sweet and cold smoke. It’s quite punchy and alittle hot, but the flavours here are just as big and vibrant so it evens out. Some fruit hard candy confectionary notes, fondant sweetness, quite a big hit of sweetness. Chocolate sauce too. Towards the base there’s still those earthy soil notes, light brine, some angelica roots, also this slightly acrid mossy note.

Finish: The ashiness carries over, there’s still that moss and dried root herbal earthy bitterness. Light bit of iodine and honey.

My Thoughts

This was a rather impressive first showing - albeit quite pricey. What I was particularly impressed here is how Akkeshi was able showcase a unique peat profile, which is really the whole selling point of the distillery - even if at the time of Kanro's making they were still using imported peat. Here we see a peat style that is more earthy, herbal and mossy, but also somewhat sweet and heathery (maybe they used a mix of Islay and Highland peat?). For me it really sat between the traditional Islay and Highland peat - it’s not overly sweet, earthy or medicinal, briny and bitter; it’s got facets of each but also very powerful and bold at that. So even if not Hokkaido peat, it was at the least a unique take on a peaty flavour.

The Kanro has layers and is quite nuanced in its profile, with the sort of dimensionality that you expect from a serious distillery. It’s by no means simple or reductive - yet at the same time, it’s not strange or unusual; it’s still really tasty. Especially the heavy maltiness and sweetness that really bolstered the other earthy herbal bitterness, either of which would’ve been overwhelming on its own, but together really delivered another level of flavour duality.

Overall, I’m really impressed. If there was any drawback (aside from the price), it would be that towards the finish, it sort of thinned out alittle and dropped off. If the flavours were to carry all the way to the end, it would’ve been incredibly heavy and powerful. While I personally thought this was pretty solid, I do think the intense sweetness and bitterness might throw some people off. It definitely catches you by surprise. For the Scotch folks, this is a Caol Ila crossed with an old Glenmorangie - but really, it’s Akkeshi.

My Rating: 7.5/10

Score/Rating Scale :

• 9-10 : Exceptional, highly memorable, 10/10 would buy if I could.
• 7-8 : Excellent, well above most in its category, worth considering buy-zone.
• 4-6 : Good, okay, alright; a few flaws, but acceptable; not bad, but not my personal preference; still worth trying, could be a buy if the price is right.
• 1-3 : Not good; really did not enjoy; wouldn't even recommend trying.
• 0 : Un-scored, might be damaged, new make, or very unusual.