Pernod Ricard has revealed the latest batch of Japanese Sake Link 8, with bottle design by Nude Brand Creation. Released in limited quantities, Link 8 blends the craftsmanship of leading Scotch whisky “Chivas Regal” and renowned Toyama Sake house “Masuizumi”.

The first footsteps of this collaboration started in 2018 with the encountering of Ryuiichiro Masuda, owner of Masuda Sake Limited and Chivas Regal Master Blender Colin Scott. The truly original inspiration of Link 8 is to bring the “art of blending” to the Sake category in order to create a complex and sophisticated Sake.

Link 8 bridges the common values of respect, friendship, tradition, craftsmanship, and the ambition for the highest quality. The Sake is made from a blend of different types of rice (predominately Yamada Bo) but also a blend of different types of yeast for fermentation. It is then matured for 10 months in ex-Scotch whisky casks, predominately rare over 18-year-old single malts with unique personalities.

The newly released Link 8 is taking Japanese Sake to new luxury heights with its new exclusive bottle designed by London based design agency Nude. The new “8” symbol at the center of the design represents the link between Japan and Scotland, symbolising waves in a Japanese Zen garden and the Celtic Knot, an old Scottish ornament. The “8” is also fours 8s interwoven, representing the distance “8,888km” from Keith in Scotland, the home of Chivas Regal, to the Masuda Sake Brewery in Toyama city, the home of Masuizumi. The symbol is printed direct on to an elegant black coated bottle and finished with a bespoke wooden closure, a symbol for the cask maturation.

Tom Hearn, Business Partner at Nude said “it was an honour and a privilege to work with the team on this luxurious Sake. Our ambition was to create an identity and packaging that captures the blending of these two different cultures, and the high levels of craftsmanship and expertise of both Masuizumi and Chivas Regal. The sophisticated and intricate identity together with the stripped back bottle achieves this.”

Link8 will be released in limited quantities from November – in Japan plus export markets including China.