Kanosuke Distillery's peated 'Gogo', made for bars only
Kanosuke Distillery in Kagoshima has teamed up with the Japanese bar chain Sake no Bijutsukan to make a limited single malt, 'Gogo', on pour since early October.
Sake no Bijutsukan, a bar chain with more than 120 outlets across Japan (run by NBG Co., Ltd. of Kyoto), has teamed up with Kanosuke Distillery (KANOSUKE) in Hioki, Kagoshima Prefecture, to create an original single malt Japanese whisky, ‘Gogo’. Pouring began in stages at outlets across Japan from early October 2026. It is the fifth release under the chain’s private brand and its seventh label overall. The bottle will not reach ordinary liquor retailers; it will be sold in limited numbers only through a handful of retailers in Japan and at whisky events.
From shochu craft to whisky
Kanosuke Distillery descends from Komasa Jozo, a producer of shochu in Kagoshima, at the southern tip of Kyushu. Shochu is a Japanese spirit made from ingredients such as rice, barley and sweet potato. In 1957, the second-generation Kanosuke Komasa released ‘Mellow Kozuru’, a rice shochu aged in casks, a first in Japan. In 2017, his grandson and fourth-generation head Yoshitsugu Komasa carried that ambition forward by opening a distillery beside Fukiage Beach, where the sun sets over the East China Sea. Long fermentation, three pot stills of differing shapes, and maturation in ‘shochu re-charred casks’, casks that once held shochu and have been charred again on the inside: the skills honed over 140 years of shochu-making underpin its mellow, sweet character.
Shochu-cask spirit, layered with gentle peat
At the heart of ‘Gogo’ is spirit matured in shochu re-charred casks. To this are added spirits aged in bourbon casks and others, plus a small amount of smoky spirit made from malt dried over peat. It is a different recipe from the limited ‘Kanosuke Single Malt PEATED’ released in 2025. The combination of spirits was chosen by ‘Kuririn’, a whisky enthusiast who also oversees blending. On the nose there are orange, apricot and dried persimmon with cinnamon-like spice, alongside earthy, hay-like peat. On the palate it is honey-smooth, with citrus and a faint note of ginger, and the bittersweet peat gradually strengthens in the finish. The strength is 48% ABV. The name ‘Gogo’ is an old way of writing ‘afternoon’. It plays on the zodiac animal of 2026, the horse (uma), and on the hours when the day turns from afternoon to a lively evening.
Enjoying it from Europe
‘Gogo’ can be drunk only in bars in Japan, and it is very unlikely to appear in European shops. Even so, what deserves attention is clear: maturation in casks that once held shochu, a method particular to southern Japan. If you come across Kanosuke’s standard single malt or a limited release at a specialist shop, try comparing it with Scotch matured in sherry or bourbon casks. According to the maker, on the rocks it brings out a syrupy sweetness, while in a highball the smokiness stands out. This is a distillery worth remembering as part of a new current in Japanese whisky born from the shochu tradition.
Sources
This article was written by The Sake Wire editorial team, summarising the public sources listed above. Images are our own.
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