Kumesen Distillery Co., Ltd. Kujira 24 Years Old

Kujira 24 Years Old is a rice grain whisky from Kumesen Distillery Co., Ltd., drawn from the subtropical island of Kumejima in Okinawa Prefecture and released only for the Japanese domestic market. At 43% and 24 years in bourbon casks, it sits near the upper end of the Kujira age range and belongs to the longer maturations where the island heat and time together reshape the spirit most fully.

The flavour profile carries cooked stone fruit, a hay-like cereal sweetness and a fragrant, almost floral middle, with a toasted finish that speaks to extended bourbon oak contact in a warm climate. Fresh fruit notes persist despite the age, a characteristic of Okinawan maturation where the spirit retains brightness even as the wood delivers increasing depth. The combination of rice-based grain spirit and two-plus decades of subtropical ageing gives the 24 Years Old a character that is genuinely its own.