When I began selecting single casks for K&L over 15 years ago, the idea was to build the sort of traditional merchant bottler of yore. One of my former colleagues used to like to compare us to the Berry Bros of the US, though I always envisioned we'd emulate the famous importer/bottlers of Italy and Japan. One of those incredible organizations that I've always kept an eye is the wonderful Acorn Limited. Founded in Saitama, 1996 by Seishi Tsuta, they're importers, retailers and independent bottlers. The care and quality that they put into every bottling is second to none. If you ever seen an Acorn bottling, you can be certain the liquid inside is of top quality. I'm honored to have had the opportunity to collaborate on this special cask. Kanosuke was the perfect bridge for our two organizations. This incredible distillery is doing everything right and both Acorn & K&L have been champions from the very start. This dual label release, one for the US market and one for the Japanese market, is truly a first. Acorn, whose already sold their entire stash, has held back some of the Japanese labels for US customers who can make the trip. If you'd like to travel to Japan to procure the other half of this historic barrel, please email me to find out how. They will hold for us if we let them know soon. On ward to the liquid! One of the fabulous thing about a new distiller of quality is finding out exactly what they are can do. This barrel, finished for nearly 3 years in high quality cognac casks, is total distinctive. While our ex-bourbon/shochu barrel felt quintessentially Kanosuke, this one offers a completely different take. Because they have 3 different spirit stills, we may continue to see exciting new styles coming out of the distillery for years to come. One constant here is the incredible quality. The color is a deep gold (0.8). The nose immediately hits with fresh stone fruit, but then pulls back on the fruit and brings forward a wild ocean-y character. The confluence of sweet stone fruit and salty seashore exemplifies the distillery's region where the Kagoshima plum's tart and salty character meets the rugged coast. This interplay between sweetness of fruit and deep umami is what drew me to this cask and also reminds me of some of my favorite malts in Scotland - Ben Nevis, Clynelish, Old Pulteney. On the palate the tension remains, the freshness of fruit up front dissolving into a complex umeboshi, zingy yuzu marmalade, sweet barley tea, pungent minty citrus peppercorn on the finish. This is somehow both out of the norm for Kanosuke, but so meaningfully of this place. An exceptional barrel and a true honor to have been involved with these two wonderful organizations.