Kanosuke 3 Years Old 2018 Cask #20081 (Hideo Yamaoka)

Kanosuke 3 Years Old 2018 Cask 20081 (Hideo Yamaoka) is a single cask single malt distilled at Kanosuke in 2018, bottled in 2022 at cask strength for the Japanese market, and selected by bottler Hideo Yamaoka. Kanosuke is the Kagoshima coastal distillery opened in 2017 by Komasa, and the Hideo Yamaoka selection marks this as a third-party independent bottling from the distillery's cask programme.

Cask 20081 was matured first in a first fill bourbon barrel then transferred to a Chardonnay barrique for a wine finish, a sequence that begins with the full impact of fresh bourbon wood's vanilla and sweet grain before adding the crisp, fruit-forward and gently oxidative character of white wine cask maturation. The two-stage maturation over three years in Kagoshima's warm conditions builds a layered profile: bourbon-derived sweetness and vanilla in the base, with citrus, white stone fruit and a light yeasty breadth from the Chardonnay. At 58% the single cask bottling delivers the full concentration of that combined influence.