Kirin Fuji Blended Whiskey / 46% / 0.7l

Fuji Gotemba Distillery (also known as Mt. Fuji Distillery) is only a few kilometres away from the famous mountain, but its flavour can be found in the local whisky (the water used for production comes from the melting snow there).

The distillery was established in 1973 as a joint venture between Japanese Kirin and Canadian Seagram; since 2001, it has been owned exclusively by Kirin. The plant is equipped with two pairs of stills and three distillation columns and produces both malt and grain whisky, the latter in three different styles - American (bourbon), Canadian and Scottish. The author of Fuji blended whisky is Jota Tanaka, Kirin's master blender. It is a blend of its own malt and grain whiskies and a small amount of single malt whisky from outside Japan. Kirin is currently the third largest producer of Japanese whisky, after Suntory and Nikka.

Nose : mild, vanilla, caramel, honeyed cereal, buttered toast, apples, pears, a touch of cinnamon, licorice and oak.

Palate: sweet bread, vanilla, caramel, buttered popcorn, pears, peaches, quince jelly, a pinch of kitchen spices and a light bitterness of oak.

Finish : medium long, with notes of cereal, sweet bread, brown sugar, vanilla, a touch of cinnamon and oak.