Kaiyo Mizunara Oak Cask Strength Japanese Whisky

Kaiyo is a negotiant bottler started by a drinks group led by former Asahi employee Mr. Watanabe who was able to purchase teaspooned malt whisky barrels from an unnamed Japanese whisky supplier via his connections in the industry (teaspooning is when a distiller adds a teaspoon of another whisky into the barrel before selling it thus preventing the purchaser from claiming it as a single malt from that distillery). The whiskies are purchased as teaspooned new make (unaged distillates) and then put into Japanese Mizunara oak barrels from Ariake considered one of the best manufacturers in the world (each new Mizunara barrel costs between $6500 – $7500). For those unfamiliar with the legend of Japanese Mizunara oak it’s become heralded in the whisky world both for the exotic flavors of incense sandalwood and coconut it passes along to the spirit as well as its expense. Difficult to cooper and notoriously inefficient as a vessel editions of Yamazaki and Bowmore aged in Mizunara