Eigashima 2012 AM (Asta Morris)

Eigashima 2012 AM is a single cask single malt from Eigashima Shuzo, distilled at the Hyogo distillery in 2012 and selected five years later by the independent bottler Asta Morris for a Japanese event market release in a 500ml format. Bottled at cask strength 61% and aged in an Ex-Bourbon cask, it represents the kind of independent bottling that helped bring wider attention to the Akashi distillery during the wave of interest in small Japanese single malts.

The flavour character leans toward a greenhouse freshness, a note commonly associated with the lighter, more herbaceous side of young Eigashima spirit before age and wood begin to round the edges. At 61% the Ex-Bourbon influence is direct and immediate, giving the expression a clean, cereal-led intensity with the fresh, green quality that makes it a distinctive and characterful demonstration of what the site produces at a young age.