Hakushu 1981 "Kioke Shikomi" Pure Malt

Hakushu was the third distillery built by Suntory, established in 1973 to shoulder some of the malt production burden for Yamazaki. The latter’s grain production had moved entirely to the new Chita distillery the year prior as well. Hakushu was built at the foot of the Southern Japan Alps, a location deliberately chosen by Suntory to provide a contrast to the style of spirit produced at Yamazaki. Interestingly, a second distillery was built in 1981 (referred to as Hakushu East) which has stills of varying shapes and sizes which are able to produce a wide range of distillate character. This is in contrast to the now-dormant old site (referred to as Hakushu West) which had 24 large stills identical in shape and size, but only capable of producing one particular style of distillate. The first Hakushu single malt was bottled in 1994.

There is a great deal of debate as to whether or not this is a single malt. Suntory were renowned for using the term "Pure Malt" for both single malts and blended malts and a high number of bloggers have stated that this is 100% Hakushu.

The translation of ‘Kioke Shikomi’ seems strange because although it means “matured in a wooden tub”, 'kioke’ normally refers to a tub used for making sake.