Hishida New Born Prelude I

Description

Hishida New Born Prelude I Bottling Note

Hishida Distillery is a whisky production facility established in 2022 within Tensei Shuzo, a brewery founded in 1901. It is a malt and grain whisky distillery located in Kagoshima Prefecture.

Hishida New Born Prelude I is a “New Born” whisky, meaning it uses whisky aged for less than three years. It is a blended whisky (categorized as a spirit due to the maturation period being less than three years) made with malt (from the UK and Germany) and grain (domestic) as raw ingredients. It has been carefully blended under the supervision of Yusuke Yaku, Chief Blender at our sister distillery, Nagahama Distillery.

For maturation, the malt whisky was aged in white oak/Port wine casks, and the grain whisky in Bourbon casks.

The mashing water is the ultra-soft water from the Fugendō Spring, selected as one of the 100 Best Waters of the Heisei Era. The warm climate of the Ōsumi Peninsula in Kagoshima Prefecture allows the whisky to develop a rich character even with a short maturation period. Hishida New Born Prelude I has a limited release of 3,000 bottles.

While a new distillery might typically release a single malt, Hishida Distillery also produces grain whisky, suggesting that they may have launched a blended whisky to quickly increase production volume. We look forward to the future release of a single malt.

Hishida New Born Prelude I Tasting Note

Nose: Sweet honey, ripe persimmon, chemical alcohol, and freshly baked apple cake. Followed by a sweet and fresh citrus aroma of cinnamon and grapefruit. There are also nostalgic, leafy notes reminiscent of cigars, tea leaves, and fallen leaves.

Palate: Moderate initial prickle. Quickly settles, revealing the sweetness of honey and the bitterness of dried leaves. A rich, full-bodied flavour of dark chocolate. The woody notes from the cask add a powerful accent.

Finish: A long, pleasant, sweet finish reminiscent of vanilla beans.

Overall: Rather than a refined flavour, the taste is built on a powerful, Bourbon-like base, with various aromas and flavours added on top. Perhaps due to being aged in tropical Kagoshima, it possesses a tricky complexity that makes it feel both young and yet somewhat matured.