Shogun Whisky and the Usami Family

Picture it. Snow up to your knees, more coming down. Somewhere in the white, a castle, and inside it, a lord who has spent his whole life at war. Neighbours want his land. Allies can't be trusted. Every spring, when the passes clear, someone new comes over the mountains looking for a fight.

This is Koshi, in the 1500s. Today we call it Niigata.

Why's a whisky blog starting in a 16th-century snowdrift? Blame the bottle. There's a full suit of armour on it, and we couldn't stop wondering whose. The bottle belongs to Shinobu Whisky Shogun, a Japanese whisky inspired by the country's warrior history.

The warlord

Our man in the snow is Usami Sadamitsu. Daimyo, Sengoku era, the whole deal. (Sengoku translates roughly as "warring states." Accurate, as names go.) For the better part of a century, the country had no one firmly in charge. Lords fought, made alliances, broke them and fought again. Castles changed hands. Whole families rose and vanished.

Sadamitsu held his place in the snow country through all of that.

Keep him in mind, because the people making Shogun today are his descendants. The Usami family traces their line straight back to him. So when you see a samurai on this bottle, it isn't a designer's idea of what looks good on a shelf. It's closer to a family portrait.

Fast forward a few centuries

The swords got put away. Japan changed beyond recognition. And somewhere along the way, a descendant of the old warlord decided his battlefield would be a brewhouse.

Ken Usami started a craft beer company in Niigata. Not a huge surprise, honestly. Ask someone in Japan what Niigata's good for and you'll get snow, rice and sake, usually in that order. It's the water, really. The mountains get absolutely buried each winter; it all melts in spring, seeps through the rock for who knows how long and comes out soft and cold and stupidly clean. Farmers grow rice people rave about on it. Sake brewers have been at it for generations.

Ken looked at that water and saw something else in it. Whisky. Today, the Shinobu Whisky collection showcases expressions inspired by Niigata's landscape and Japanese whisky-making traditions.

In 2017 he got his licence. The plan was a distillery built around one idea: show the world what Niigata's water can do.

For a closer look at the region, its whisky-making philosophy and the role of Mizunara, read our guide to Shinobu Whisky: Discover the Spirit of Niigata, Japan

The patience problem

Here's the catch nobody warns brewers about.

Beer is quick. Brew it, wait a few weeks, drink it. Whisky is the opposite. You make your spirit, put it in a cask and then you wait. And wait some more. We're talking years. No hurrying it along, no sneaky early taste to check it's going OK, and if it's gone wrong, well, tough.

Which is where the name comes in. Shinobu means "forbearance" in Japanese. Patience, endurance, the ability to put up with things and keep going anyway.

“We can't think of a word that suits whisky-making better. The philosophy is central to the Shinobu Distillery's approach to whisky-making, where patience and perseverance are part of the brand's identity. It's pretty samurai, too, if you think about it. Grit, discipline, being in it for the long haul. The old warlord would probably have approved.

The swords come back out

Once whisky was flowing, the family's past started showing up in the bottles.

The Usamis created the Sengoku Samurai Series, a range built to honour the valour and spirit of Japan's warrior past. The releases are single cask, distilled by Tatsuya Usami.

Never come across single cask? Quick one. Most whisky is a mash-up of loads of barrels, so it tastes the same every time you buy it. Single cask is the opposite. Every bottle in a release comes from one barrel, and no two barrels are ever the same. The wood is different. The spot in the warehouse is different. Even a hot summer leaves its mark.

So each release is a one-off. Kind of like a warrior, when you think about it. Each with their own story.

The bottle that wears armour

And then there's Shogun.

In old Japan, the shogun was the top of the ladder. Higher than any daimyo, higher than any general. The emperor sat on the throne, but the shogun ran the country. To name a whisky Shogun is to say, quite plainly, this is the one at the top.

The bottle backs it up. On the front is the armour of a general from the late Sengoku era, the very end of the age of war. Helmet, plates, the lot. It's Sadamitsu's world, brought back to life on the label of his family's whisky.

That's the outside. The inside is where it gets really interesting.

Two oaks walk into a barrel

Shogun is shaped by two very different woods: Bourbon oak and Mizunara.

Bourbon oak is the safe pair of hands. Basically these barrels did a stint holding bourbon over in America, then got sold on and shipped all over the place for everyone else's whisky. Odds are most of what you've ever drunk spent time in one. Think vanilla, a bit of toffee, that cosy sweet thing.

Mizunara is the wild card.

It's a Japanese oak, and nobody planned to use it. During the Second World War, Japan's distillers couldn't import barrels, so they turned to the trees growing around them. Mizunara was a nightmare to work with. It's soaked with moisture; it grows crooked and the barrels leak. Coopers hated it.

But the distillers who stuck with it found something nobody expected. Leave whisky in Mizunara long enough and it starts to smell like nothing else in the warehouse. People reach for words like incense, sandalwood and old temples. The wood nobody wanted became one of the most prized in the whole whisky world, and today it's practically a signature of Japanese whisky. You can explore its influence in other expressions, including Shinobu Pure Malt Whisky finished in Mizunara oak .

So, one oak from America, one from Japan, both in the same bottle. A bit like the Usami story itself. Old and new, side by side.

Your move

How do you drink a whisky like this? Slowly, ideally. Shinobu, remember.

First pour. Neat, in a small glass. Then leave it alone for a few minutes. Seriously, walk away.

Second sip. In go two or three drops of water, no more. That's usually when a cask-heavy whisky wakes up, and Mizunara in particular likes to hang back till you do it.

Third round. If you're a highball person, now's your moment. Cold glass, lots of ice, chilled soda and one gentle stir. You'll have tasted it properly by then, so you'll know what you're adding to.

On the side

Japan takes whisky with food seriously, so here are a few ideas. Yakitori or anything off the grill loves a whisky with some sweetness. Dark chocolate and bourbon oak are old friends. And for a little Niigata in-joke, try a few rice crackers. Same water, after all.

Five things to tell your friends when you open it

1. The family behind it descend from a real samurai lord, Usami Sadamitsu.

2. Niigata was called Koshi back then, a snowbound land of rice, water and warriors.

3. The distillery is called Shinobu, which means patience. Because whisky.

4. The armour on the bottle is a late-Sengoku general's.

5. Mizunara, one of the oaks inside, was used out of desperation during wartime and is now one of the most sought-after woods in whisky.

That should keep the conversation going for at least one glass.

Last thing

Think back to that castle in the snow. A lord holding his ground, not knowing his family name would one day end up on a whisky label. Then a brewer who waited years for his first whisky to be ready. Then a bottle, finally, with the whole story inside it.

Pour yourself some. Take your time. It took the Usamis a few centuries to get here, after all.

Shogun whisky FAQ

Who makes Shogun whisky?

The Usami family in Niigata. Ken Usami, a brewer who founded a craft beer company there, got a whisky licence in 2017 and set up the Shinobu distillery.

What does Shinobu mean?

Forbearance, or patience. It's what a distiller needs most.

Who was Usami Sadamitsu?

A daimyo in Koshi (today's Niigata) during Japan's age of civil war. The Usami family trace their line to him.

What is the Sengoku Samurai Series?

The family's range of single-cask whiskies honouring Japan's warrior past. Tatsuya Usami distils them.

What casks does Shogun use?

Bourbon and Mizunara oak.

What is Mizunara?

A Japanese oak that's hard to work with but known for giving whisky incense and sandalwood notes.

Why is it called Shogun?

Shogun was the highest rank of leadership in Japan. The late-Sengoku general's armour on the bottle matches the name.

How should I drink it?

Neat first, then with a drop of water. A highball works too.