Blanton's Single Barrel Red Takara Japan Exclusive Edition Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey (2023) 75cl

A Japan exclusive that you are not able to purchase anywhere other than Japan. This is not a travel retail product either.

Differences between this and a regular Blanton's Single Barrel

Box – One of the most distinctive clues that you’re looking at a bottle of Takara Red would be the red box that is different in every way from the domestic version. Even the material the box is made out of seems different. The Takara box has what I would describe as a “woven texture” underneath its red colour.

Bag – A bag that domestic Blanton’s comes in is brown in color and has the words “Blanton’s” across the front. The Takara version is a deep maroon color with no “Blanton’s” wording embroidered on it.

Necktag – the domestic version has a black elastic string that attaches a small Blanton’s tag. The Takara version has a much larger tag that is a essentially a multi-page pamphlet retelling much of the same information as the outside of the box.

Wax – Takara Red wax is gold in color (like Blanton’s Straight From The Barrel) while the domestic version is a very dark brown (almost black)

Label – the Takara Red label has a different color for the handwritten portions and the printed portions of the label. Both are in a light brown color compared to the black color of standard Blanton’s. The paper neck label on the Takara Red bottle has Japanese script underneath the words “Blanton’s Single Barrel Bourbon.” The script’s Japanese characters spell out the word “Whiskey.” One interesting similarity is that Takara Red is bottled in a 750ml bottle rather than a 700ml version like a lot of the export versions of Blanton’s out there

What makes the bourbon in Takara Red different?

Rumors abound about Takara Red (and Black and Gold) releases being aged for two years longer than their domestic counterparts. But those rumors are fiercely debated among enthusiast circles. I personally view the whole commotion as one side who is basing their information on decades-old hearsay and the other side who has much more current knowledge on the current state of Blanton’s. They know there is no such thing as “older barrels” resting inside of Warehouse H anymore. Blanton’s is no exception.

While it is probably true that Takara still wants their own bottles to be older than the run-of-the-mill domestic bottles of Blanton’s, they can’t avoid the squeeze of a high demand product and falling age statements. Reviews of modern-day bottles of Takara Black, Red and Gold all seem to point to a feeling of the bourbon being more average than bottles from the past.

About the distillery

46.5% ABV

75cl