Images shown are for illustration purposes only, vintage may vary.
Kamiki is a new expression of premium Japanese style whisky blessed by Omiwa priests from Nara. Nara is the ancient capital of Japan and it holds many temples from Shinto, Tengri and Buddhist religions, which makes Nara «The City of Temples». Kamiki production is protected by Omiwa Temple priests. Omiwa is one of the oldest extant Shinto shrine in Japan over thousand years old and protecting local alcohol producers ever since. To celebrate the timeless alcohol tradition of the region, rare Japanese malt whiskies and finest malt whiskies sourced from rest of the world are blended and later fused with the highest quality pure spring water. Nara is covered with dense Yoshino Sugi (Japanese Cedar) forests. Yoshino Sugi is used to build temples, burnt in temples to calm mind and to age local alcohol products. Kamiki uses a unique second maturation technique, while blend is rested for a second time in Yoshino Sugi –Japanese Cedar- casks to capture a perfectly smooth taste, a scent of sandalwood on the nose and a zest of green tea in the finish. This second maturation makes Kamiki: “THE FIRST WHISKY IN THE WORLD WITH JAPANESE CEDAR CASK FINISH”! Kamiki name is derived from the Miwa Mountain (Mountain of God), which is protected by Omiwa Priests. Inspired by beautiful breezes coming from Miwa, the whisky is named KAMIKI, where KAMI means God and IKI means breath. Nara is as well home to Thousands of Sakura Trees, planted long ago by priests to worship nature. Sakura tree symbolizes the fragility of life with its beautiful yet short-lived blossoms and has been part of Japanese culture for centuries through the spring ceremony of HANAMI – Cherry Blossom viewing. Inspired by sacred Sakura tree and timeless traditions of Nara, we curated Kamiki SAKURA. Kamiki SAKURA is an exclusive version of Kamiki ORIGINAL whereby the blend is aged in Sakura casks at the final stage after it is rested in Yoshino-Sugi casks. This two-step cask finish brings the essence Yoshino Sugi and Sakura wood with a distinct warming woodiness that reminds Nara forests with sandalwood and gentle spice, before sweet cherries notes. There is no age statement on the product. It has been aged in oak barrels minimum of three years and second aged in non-charred local cedar casks and finally Sakura casks to bring the taste of Nara forests in a whisky bottle to the world. Kamiki SAKURA has got acknowledgements from:
• “DOUBLE GOLD” medal from 2019 Cigar & Spirits Magazine Competition
• “GOLD” medal from 2019 China Wine and Spirits Awards.
• “91 Points” from 2020 Ultimate Spirit Challange.
• “PLATINUM” Award from 2019 SIP Awards
• “DOUBLE GOLD” Award from 2019 Women’s Wine & Spirit Awards.
• “CONSUMER’S CHOICE” Award from 2019 SIP Awards
• “INNOVATION” Award from 2019 SIP Awards
• “DOUBLE GOLD” from 2019 Las Vegas Spirit Awards
• “GOLD” from 2019 San Diego Spirit Awards TASTING NOTES
• Nose: Cherry candy with ripe banana, chestnuts, and cinnamon on the nose.
• Palate: Woodiness, sandalwood and gentle spice, before sweet Sakura pedals.
• Finish: Spicy cherry with savory notes, leading to a floral, spring-like finish