Review #609 - Akkeshi Seimei Peated Japanese Single Malt (2022)
Akkeshi is a relatively new Japanese distillery based on the northern island of Hokkaido - it was established in 2016, and one of its goals was to create whiskies with similarities to Islay Scotch single malts.
Because of the youth of the distillery, releases have only started coming in the past few years - here's one of their earliest releases, a single malt called Seimei, named after the time of the year when winter begins to transition to spring. This is a pot-distilled single malt which uses lightly peated barley; there's no age statement, but we do get a nice strength of 55% ABV.
The casks chosen for this bottling represent a combination of 3 styles: ex-bourbon casks, sherry casks, and Mizunara oak casks which originated on Hokkaido.
Akkeshi Seimei Peated Japanese Single Malt (2022)
Japan - Single Malt
Price: USD 270 (2025)
Age Statement: NAS
Strength: 55% ABV
Cask Makeup: Ex-bourbon, ex-sherry, and Mizunara oak casks
Details: Bottled 2022
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 3 times (twice blind) over 9 months from a sample. Tasted in a nosing glass each time, rested 15+ minutes
Nose: Young and peaty - a bit spirity, but nice fruits of lemon and orange, as well as a sweet fizzy scent. Vanilla, hay, and pepper add some lighter notes; there's a strong salt scent to this as well, very coastal. Malt notes build, and later, we get a buttery pastry scent, subtle floral notes, and gasoline.
Palate: A medium-thick mouthfeel - rich and peaty, actually quite strong peat. It's accented by peppery spice and a hint of hot peppers, but that's also balanced by sweeter notes of lemon-lime soda, chocolate, and prune. Time brings more fruit: mango, peach, and then some minerality and sweet lime; this has nice spirit character, a lot of depth.
Finish: Strong peat lingers; we get some wood smoke or char, white pepper, and a lot of tannins - quite oak forward into the finish, actually. Sweet lemonade mixes with orange, but it all softens with time; it's a long finish.
Final Note: We're surprised the brand described this whisky as lightly peated - for us, this was heavy peat, quite reminiscent of a cask strength Islay whisky (as they supposedly intended). Lots of coastal notes, too, but the star of the show may be the estery, fruity flavor development in the background - there's great spirit character here, and this should age well. Very good whisky, nice to see from such a young distillery.
Value, however, is not very good. A number of new Japanese distilleries are putting super premium price tags on their inaugural or other early releases, and this whisky from Akkeshi is no exception; it's hard to live up to a cost of $270, no matter how unique the whisky is.
Our Average Rating: 7.7 / 10
In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.
Value Rating: 4.75
About Us: We're a husband and wife review team living in the Midwest United States. Generally, our reviews and tasting notes will be a compilation of both of our experiences with a whisky over several tasting sessions.
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