u/mizu__wari

I picked up the latest bottle from the 24 Solar Terms series, Spring Equinox (Shinbun), while in Japan last month.

I couldn't find much information about the cask makeup, but eventually stumbled on this website that publishes the cask breakdown and ages of each release. I thought it was great to see, it would be helpful if more distilleries could be this transparent, especially for these NAS releases.

Included are PPM levels, cask breakdown, and age range of casks used.

It was interesting to see this release has higher amounts of mizunara and minimal peat (less than 10 PPM).

I had a bit of free time in Kagurazaka and stopped by Mizunara bar for a few drams. I went here because I noticed they had a good selection of private cask Japanese whiskies, mostly specifically Kanosuke. It was a chill place, at least in the early afternoon, with a friendly and English speaking bar manager. He said it is mostly a cocktail bar but he enjoys talking whisky when he gets the chance.

The rye cask (flower label) and ex-shochu with red wine finish cask (girl label) are Mizunara exclusives. The umeshu finish (demon label) is from Stefan Van Eycken's ghost series.

The rye cask was good, although nothing stood out aside from some additional spicy notes added to the fruity Kanosuke distillate. This was my first ever ex-rye single cask, so not much to compare it to.

The red wine cask was excellent, the wine cask added some cacao and red fruits without being overly tannic or distracting.

The ghost series umeshu finish was incredible, the sweet plum flavor added a perfect additional layer of complexity. I would definitely buy a bottle of this if I could find it.

Prices were reasonable for each of these, around 1,400 yen per 15ml pour.