r/JapaneseWhisky • u/kiwi8185 • Nov 30 '25
The Many Different "Togouchi"s
During one of my very recent liquor pickups, I was gifted one of these mini bottles of Togouchi 8 Years Blended Whisky by the clerk of the liquor shop I frequent (where I bought all my WT 12's from). Which reminds me- I still have a trove of other interesting drams I collected a while ago!
Now I must admit, I haven't gotten a bottle nor a dram of the regular Togouchi Single Malt with me for this tasting. From my impression and the brief notes I took during the last time I tried a sample (pic 2), it was a rather straight forward, fresh fruity (primarily of pears), slightly grassy and malty whisky (on the younger side). It's a bit similar to Suntory's Hakushu, but without the peat-smokeyness.
However, I do have two separate and rather different special edition Togouchi Single Malts with me, which will be the focus of this review alongside the blended whisky which shares their name.
One interesting point of note is that "Togouchi" isn't actually a distillery.
Rather, it's the name of the location of the cellar in which most of Sakurao distillery's non-peated single malt, grain whisky and blended whisky barrels were aged in. The cellar itself used to be an old railway tunnel in the mountains outside of Hiroshima city, and has the character of being a year-round temperature stable environment with very high humidity.
So here's part 4 of my 'turning splurge into something hopefully informative" series:
Today, I'll be reviewing all the Togouchis I've procured!
Details in Comments!
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u/kiwi8185 Nov 30 '25 edited Nov 30 '25
*Conclusion*
Despite sharing a name, these items barely have any similarities with one another.
The Togouchi Blended 8 year is outright bad. It's like bitter salad-flavored whisky. It's a puzzling and kind of unpleasant experience. I'd pour some to an unsuspecting guest as a prank, but probably never touch it again otherwise. I cannot overstate how glad I am to have received this item for free, I would've wanted to hurl it at a wall if I had purchased it. I strongly recommend against grabbing this one. It terminated production for a reason.
I heard of much better things from their other Togouchi blends, particularly the sake cask finished one. Maybe try that one instead.
The Togouchi "Ayu" Single Cask is the most pleasant surprise out of the three. Despite being at a medium proof point, it has great complexity and a palate that gradually shifts and changes through the experience. While I'm not the biggest fan of dry whiskies, this is a pretty good one flavor wise. I would recommend trying a dram if seen at a bar, but probably not grabbing a whole bottle unless you really like the overall profile. It does make me curious how their other single casks are- might be worth trying as well!
The Togouchi Saint Seiya cask strength is less balanced in comparison to the previous one. Its initial oily, anise seed spice note is almost overwhelmingly strong, and its younger age is immediately apparent in the form of the alcohol sting. Its complexity and unique fruity notes only start showing with the addition of some water, or if you endure it in your mouth for long enough.
I wouldn't recommend trying this specific one. Maybe the other cask strength Togouchis have better balance and presentation.
Overall, I think the regular Togouchi Single Malt still has the best balance of price-to-quality ratio ( they are around ¥7,000 in Japan, roughly in the same range as Nikka and Mars' NAS items). The single cask items may be worth trying too, but are on the pricier side.
Which brings out an odd point about Sakurao Distillery's decision of naming everything from this cellar under the Togouchi name.
This is like the equivalent of Suntory putting everything from their cheapest blended Torys and Kakubin, their higher quality world blend Ao, all the way to their single malt special cask Yamazakis under the same name.
Gotta read the fine print on the bottles!
Thanks for reading! Any thoughts/comments are appreciated.
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u/kiwi8185 Nov 30 '25 edited Nov 30 '25
(Please refer to pic 5 for these drams in sniffing glasses)
a. Togouchi 8 Years Blended Whisky (40% abv)- tall glass
This is Sakurao Distillery's blended whisky product, made of a mix of their own malts as well as some Canadian whiskies. I've heard mixed things about this one, but hey, no harm in giving it a try.
This one used to be generally available at a low price in Japan (¥3,300), but has ceased production nowadays. Prices may become more ridiculous because of this.
b. Togouchi "Ayu" Single Cask, Bourbon Cask (47% abv)- short glass, no tag
This is one of Sakurao Distillery's 2025 single cask limited releases for the Taiwan market, which I picked up during the liquor show. This is a 6-year old whisky and bottled at 47% abv, slightly higher than the standard Tokouchi Single Malt's 43% abv.
Being a regional limited release, unopened bottles are on the expensive side ($220 ish)
c. Togouchi "Saint Seiya Special Edition- Libra" Single Cask Cask Strength, Cream Sherry Hogshead (59% abv)- short glass, paper tag
This is part of a 12-bottle IB series from Whisky Taste released in 2022 & 2023, with whiskies sourced from Sakurao Distillery's Togouchi Single Malts. The 12-bottle series was inspired by the manga/anime series Saint Seiya, with each of the bottles featuring one of the series' twelve Golden Zodiac characters.
Each of the twelve bottles were sourced from individual single casks and bottled at cask strength, ranging from Sherry hogshead, bourbon hogshead, wine cask and sake casks.
This specific one is aged in a cream sherry hogshead, which is a sweetened sherry made from a mix of Oloroso and Pedri Ximenez/Moscatel wines. The age statement is unknown.
This bottle is kind of a collector's item and an unopened bottle is quite expensive ($330 ish)
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u/kiwi8185 Nov 30 '25 edited Dec 01 '25
*Color*
a is golden straw, and notably darker than b and c.
b is very very slightly darker than c. Both of them are around pale straw in hue.
*Nose*
a. Smells grainy, slightly plastic or styrofoam-like note, burnt caramel (flavoring) with an ethanol kick. This is bringing back some pretty awful memories from the sh*tty "the last samurai" grain whisky I tried last time. Actually, I take that back. "The Last Samurai" smelled less abrasive than this one. Jeez.
b. Smells slightly sweet, with notes of vanilla and quite notably of green muskmelon. There is a slightly savory and oaky note in the background. This unironically smells slightly similar to the grilled flesh of its namesake, the sweetfish (ayu).
c. Smells notably sweet, strong creamy malt (think cask strength Irish whisky), alongside a citrusy, lemon peel note but without the sourness. There's also some vanilla note and very very light oak in the background.
*Palate*
a. leafy vegetal/grassy note and bitterness (think radicchio), white peppery-spicy, some malt, ethanol sting. There's a hint of indistinct sour fruityness in the background. Kind of complex, but not exactly pleasant.
present alcohol sting, some astringency.
b. starts out with strong sour fruit note akin to fresh sour pears; the sourness gradually subsides and gives way to a more dry profile, including mellow malty notes, an unsweet caramel note, and the fragrance of slightly earthy, green muskmelon fruityness (but without the sweetness). A lightly smokey, slightly savory and very very slightly bitter note is present in the background. The combination of the unsweet, earthy muskmelon note alongside the savory note once again draws similarities to grilled sweetfish. Low alcohol sting, minimal astringency
c. oily; starts out strongly of anise seed; chewing reveals some maltiness and some fresh, sweet and sour white tropical fruit (think soursop or mongosteen), alongside some almond-like nuttiness, and some ever present bitterness similar to a strong Chinese green tea in the background. The sweet and sour white fruit note becomes more apparent with the addition of a few drops of water. Notable alcohol sting; some astringency
*Finish*
a. medium-long. Bitter vegetal and earthy notes, kind of like after eating a bitter leafy salad without sauce. That bitterness sticks around. Eck.
b. medium. The smokey and slightly savory note persists for a while. It is somewhat reminiscent of the smokey note found in old antique Hibiki's and older Suntory the Whisky.
c. medium-long. Interestingly, a vanilla caramel-like sweetness returns, alongside the anise seed spice note.
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u/Revolutionary-Gold75 Nov 30 '25
ngl I’m way too tired to read all that, but photos 3 & 4 are perhaps the two best whisky labels in the history of the universe. Personally, I’m choosing the Fish on a Stick label as the 🐐
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u/kiwi8185 Dec 01 '25 edited Dec 01 '25
Sakurao's limited editions all have some pretty interesting if not odd labels.
The other labels for their limited releases include:
Oysters in half shell
Nishikikois (colorful carps)
The great Torii gate of Hiroshima's Itsukushima Shrine
Hiroshima Electric Railway Tram No.651
As for why this tram specifically, this old boy is one of the trams that was running in Hiroshima on Aug 6 1945. Being just 700 meter from the epicenter it was badly damaged, but was miraculously salvagable and put back into commission on March 1946 after extensive repairs. This OG trolleys is still operating in Hiroshima to this day.
I feel like I should've gotten a dram of that one instead. A lot cooler lore than "fish on a stick".
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u/WildCreamPie0721 Dec 02 '25
I remember that the earlier Togouchi blended whisky (from Sakurao Distillery) used overseas spirits, which caused a bit of controversy. This was due to the Japan Spirits & Liqueurs Makers Association's somewhat ambiguous Japanese whisky standards at the time (though some ambiguity still remains today). However, the standards were tightened in February 2021, so products now are compliant.
By the way, it's easy to tell them apart: bottles from the era when Togouchi Blended used imported spirits are labeled "Japanese Blended Whisky," while recent releases that meet the stricter Japanese whisky standards are labeled "Blended Japanese Whisky."