Hanyu Houou-Uhi

Hanyu Houou-Uhi brings together two closed chapters of Japanese whisky history: the Hanyu malt distillery in Saitama Prefecture, built by Toa Shuzo and silent since 2000, and the Kawasaki grain distillery in Kanagawa Prefecture, also shuttered in the early 2000s. The Houou-Uhi release marries their respective characters in a 12 Years Old expression bottled at 46.5% for the Singapore market, drawing on the finite stock that remains from both sites.

Matured in Ex-Bourbon casks, the combination is led by the sweet, tropical weight typical of Kawasaki grain, rounded out by the dried orchard fruit and vanilla that Ex-Bourbon wood tends to draw from Hanyu malt. The result sits between richness and lift, with neither component overwhelming the other, a rare opportunity to taste two ghost distilleries in a single bottle.