Mizunara oak was fairly unknown â by me, at least â back in 2015, when Bowmore released the first mizunara cask-finished single malt Scotch to much acclaim and ballyhoo. Within a few years, it seemed like every whisky distillery that could score a cask was finishing something in it… followed by most of them charging an arm and a leg for it. Many an eye rolled in the whisky community, and perhaps you sighed involuntarily when you read this headline. I get it. Mizunara can seem gimmicky on its surface. But itâs rare and pricey and sought after for legitimate reasons. And it does make some truly terrific and distinctive whisky, as new releases from Kentuckyâs Rabbit Hole Distillery and Japanâs Hatozaki show.
When the Japanese started making whisky in the 1920s, even they didnât want to use mizunara oak. Thatâs because mizunara takes a ridiculously long time to reach maturation â more than 200 years. Itâs hard to make barrels from it. And once those barrels are made, theyâre notoriously leaky (âmizunaraâ means âwater oakâ in Japanese). But when World War II made Scotch and American whisky barrels inaccessible, Japanese whisky makers had no choice but to use what they had on hand. It wasnât until fairly recently that Western whisky brands really took note of what unique flavors the oak imparts â most famously aromatic sandalwood, toasted coconut, and light herbaceous notes â and started tracking down casks for themselves. Which leads us to these two whiskies, both distilled in America but with varying degrees of Japanese influence.
Rabbit Hole is a newish distillery, founded in 2012 by Kaveh Zamanian, a psychoanalyst who fell under the spell of bourbon (and his wife, a native of Louisville) and moved to Kentucky to pursue his dream. Itâs a backstory that could be a recipe for disaster, but Rabbit Hole makes some interesting and tasty whiskeys, with an emphasis on unusual grains, mashbills, and genuinely small batches of no larger than 15 barrels.
Rabbit Holeâs first mizunara cask-finished bourbon, part of the distilleryâs Founderâs Collection of limited edition cask strength whiskeys, was released in 2021. The followup, clocking in at 51.9% ABV, is, like its predecessor, aged for 15 years in new charred American oak followed by âmore than 11 months,â according to the press release, in mizunara casks. Rabbit Hole Mizunara Founderâs Collection is also a sourced bourbon, as itâs older than Rabbit Hole itself. Fortunately, sourcing is no longer frowned upon the way it was, say, a decade ago. And honestly, with a whiskey this good, where it was distilled is of secondary importance. Big caramel and butterscotch notes vie for center stage with the classic sandalwood/herbal/lightly tropical flavors imparted from the mizunara. The texture is rich and luscious; the way it coats the tongue is almost dessert-like. For almost 103 proof, the alcoholic heat is quite moderate, with a long, sweet, complex finish. It doesnât get much better than this â which is the desired outcome, given its suggested retail price of $1,500 for one of the 2,200 bottles available (Iâve seen it listed online for significantly more).
On the other hand, Hatozaki Omakase Rye Third Edition Mizunara Cask Finish retails for a mere $95 (suggested retail price, anyway), even though supplies almost as limited, with not quite 3,000 bottles made â all of them destined for the U.S. market. What accounts for the discrepancy? Iâm not sure, really. Hatozaki is distilled (or, in this case, aged) at the KaikyĆ distillery on the shores of the Seto Inland Sea in Japan, which was launched as an offshoot of the Akashi sake brewery on its 100th anniversary in 2017. Master distiller/blender Kimio Yonezawa comes from a long line of shochu distillers, and heâs carrying on the tradition with a twist, making innovative gins and whiskies instead.
The first two Omakase releases were made-in-Japan malt whiskies. The third is an American rye about which few details are known, apart from its first being aged in new charred American oak before a finishing in mizunara oak at KaikyĆ for an undisclosed length of time. Most Americans know the word âomakaseâ through its relation to sushi, but its actual translation is, âI leave it up to you.â Yonezawa used the name for the series of limited editions because itâs where he plays around with various types of whiskies, cask aging, and flavor profiles. In this case, that means, like the Rabbit Hole, notes of sandalwood and toasted coconut. Here theyâre underpinned by caramelized banana, chocolate, hints of clove and a lightly tingly rye spice. At only 42% ABV, itâs a little less lively than the Rabbit Hole, but very enjoyable. And unlike some higher-octane ryes which can turn sharp and astringent when paired with dessert, Omakase is as delicious with vanilla ice cream (caramel sauce optional) as any spiritous liquor Iâve tasted.
So which of the two should you pick up? If your whisky budget doesnât run to four figures, the Hatozaki is a no-brainer. But if youâre a hardcore collector, a mizunara obsessive, or you just have money to burn, you canât go wrong with either of them. Or better yet, both.