Sasanokawa Shuzo Yamazakura 963 – 21 Years Old

Yamazakura 963 21 Years Old is a blended whisky from Sasanokawa Shuzo in Fukushima prefecture, bottled at cask strength for the Japanese domestic market. Part of the 963 series within the Yamazakura range, the twenty-one-year age statement represents one of the more mature expressions in the line, drawing on stocks that have had time to develop genuine complexity in wood.

Matured in Ex-Bourbon casks over two decades, the flavour profile shows what extended time in wood produces in a blend: chocolate and honey in the mid-palate, fresh and dried fruit in layers, and beneath them the quieter, deeper notes of old wood and leather that only long ageing develops. At 58% the cask strength bottling delivers the full concentration of those twenty-one years without compromise, finishing long and warm. A composed and historically grounded expression from one of Fukushima's most experienced producers.