Takamine - 8 Years Old Japanese Whiskey (750ml)

Price: $99.99

* Not eligible for case discounts

Producer	Takamine
Country	Japan
Region	Fukuoka
Style	Japanese Whiskey
Sku	3604000336
Size	750ml

This new spirit won a Gold Medal at the 2021 San Francisco Wine & Spirits Competition.

Produced at Shinozaki Distillery this whiskey has a mash bill of 100% pearled 2-row barley, which is 40% koji-fermented and 60% steamed. It is distilled in a double pot-still to a proof of 86.7%. The whiskey is matured in virgin American oak and ex-bourbon casks with no added color. It is matured 8 years in a combination of virgin American oak and ex-bourbon casks, and bottled at 80 proof.

The whiskey is named for Jokichi Takamine, a Japanese chemist and industrial leader whose most important achievement was the isolation of the chemical adrenalin living in Illinois. He was the first to apply koji fermentation, a centuries’ old Japanese technique of using naturally-occurring grain mold to break down starches to convert into sugars to American whiskey in the 1890s. While several business ventures related to this failed, he was later very successful as a chemist (he isolated adrenaline for the first time), professor and business man. As Takamine became wealthier, he left his laboratory work behind and turned his energies toward improving the position of the Japanese in the United States. He helped found the Nippon Club and the Japan Society to foster better relations between Americans and the Japanese. When Takamine learned in 1909 that First Lady Helen Herron Taft was working to beautify the Tidal Basin area around the Potomac River in Washington, DC, he funded a gift of 2000 cherry trees from the mayor of Tokyo to the city of Washington. This symbol of Japanese–American friendship has become a clichéd tourist attraction, but almost no one remembers the man who was instrumental in making it happen.

Takamine Description

Takamine Koji Whiskey is made with the patented Takamine Process, which uses an ancient Japanese mold, koji, to convert starches to sugars in a process similar to malting barley. Unlike malt whiskey where sugars are extracted in a warm water mash before yeast is introduced to start the fermentation, both the koji and yeast are active at the same time in a multiple parallel fermentation. This 100% barley ferment is then double distilled and aged in virgin oak and ex-Bourbon casks to give the spirit its natural golden color and deep, lush flavors.

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