Hakushu & Yamazaki Single Casks for Whisky Shop W. 4th Anniversary

Post by Stefan Van Eycken, Tokyo

Photo courtesy of Whisky Shop W.

We had already picked up rumours last year, in the run-up to the 3rd anniversary of Whisky Shop W. (Suntory’s flagship whisky store, located in their HQ building in Osaka) that it was getting harder and harder – even for them! – to arrange single cask bottlings. Well, they weren’t kidding. To ‘celebrate’ their 4th anniversary, they have just released two single casks - a Yamazaki and a Hakushu as usual – in … 190ml sample bottles! Whatever the reason for this decision, it is clear now that single cask bottlings are no longer a priority for Suntory – which probably explains why (in the wake of Karuizawa and Hanyu) prices for old Yamazaki and Hakushu single casks – from the days when they were everywhere and cheap, but relatively unknown and unloved – keep rising on the secondary market.

The 4th anniversary releases can only be purchased as a set, i.e. one of each. The Yamazaki is drawn from a Spanish oak ex-sherry cask (vintage 2003, 55%abv), the Hakushu from a White oak hogshead (vintage 2000, 60%abv). Price for a set of two 190ml-sample bottles is 6,000 yen. More than a few people – when we told them about these new sample bottle releases  – wondered if this was a deliberate strategy to make certain Japanese whiskies (from very much active distilleries) seem rarer than they really are. Time will tell…