Suntory 1981 Kioke Shikomi

This rare pure malt from Suntory was bottled at Yamanishi and is believed to be a vatting of Hakushu and Yamazaki single malts with 90% of the vats consisting of Hakushu whisky. The red Japanese characters on the middle of the bottle label translates to “Direct Fired” which refers to the distillation technique the distillery uses to refine the whisky. They then employ an innovative bamboo charcoal filtration system and a traditional fermentation process using ‘Kioke Shikomi’ which translates to ‘Matured in Wooden Tubs”. An interesting technique indeed considering Kioke is a tub generally used for making sake.

Distilled in 1981, this expression is the complementary bottling to the Suntory 1991 Furudaru Shiage and with the series finishing in 1999, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to source. We believe it was bottled in 2005, making the malt 24 years old.