Single cask Japanese whisky at cask strength is still a relatively rare thing to find on UK shelves, so when The Whisky Exchange secured an exclusive bottling from Kanosuke — cask #20496, a 1st fill bourbon barrel distilled in 2020 — I paid attention. At 61% ABV and £165, this sits in that interesting space where you're paying for genuine scarcity and a specific cask choice rather than age or brand recognition. And honestly, I think it earns its price tag.
Kanosuke is one of Japan's newer distilleries, and what makes their output interesting to me as someone who spent years behind a bar pouring bourbon is how directly the cask influence reads. A 1st fill bourbon barrel at cask strength is going to deliver a lot of what that original bourbon left behind — we're talking vanillin compounds from the American oak, caramelised sugars from the char, coconut lactones. The fact that this is a young spirit (distilled 2020, so we're looking at roughly three to four years of maturation depending on bottling date) means that conversation between new-make and wood is still loud and present. That's not a criticism. With Japanese distillates, which tend toward a cleaner, more precise new-make character, a 1st fill bourbon cask can do a lot of heavy lifting in a short time.
Tasting Notes
I'd encourage you to approach this one with patience. At 61% ABV, this needs water — not a suggestion, practically a requirement. A few drops will open it up significantly. Given the 1st fill bourbon cask maturation, expect the wood influence to be prominent: think along the lines of vanilla, toffee, and orchard fruit sweetness balanced against the cereal brightness of a young Japanese spirit. The cask strength bottling means nothing has been diluted or chill-filtered, so you're getting the full picture of what cask #20496 had to offer.
The Verdict
I'm giving this an 8.2 out of 10. Here's why: this is a single cask, cask strength, exclusive bottling from a distillery that's building a serious reputation. The 1st fill bourbon barrel is a smart cask choice for a younger spirit — it provides structure and sweetness without overwhelming the distillery character. At £165, it's not cheap, but compare it to what Scottish single cask bottlings at similar strength and exclusivity go for and it starts to look reasonable. What you're buying here is a snapshot of a distillery finding its feet, bottled without compromise. For collectors of Japanese whisky, this is exactly the kind of release worth hunting down. For drinkers, it's a genuinely rewarding pour that shows what good cask selection can achieve with a well-made spirit. The high ABV means a single bottle will last you a long time too — this isn't something you'll rush through.
Best Served
Neat with water, full stop. Add water in small increments — start with three or four drops from a pipette and work up from there. At 61%, you can comfortably bring this down to around 46-48% ABV and it'll still have plenty of intensity. A Glencairn glass is ideal here; you want to concentrate those aromas. If you're feeling adventurous, try it in a Japanese-style highball with quality soda water at a 1:3 ratio — the bourbon cask sweetness can handle the dilution and you'll get something surprisingly refreshing. But honestly, a whisky this specific deserves to be tasted on its own terms first.
