Japanese Whisky

“It’s less sweet than bourbon but not as powerful and peaty as some Scotches, striking an appealing balance,” say some reviewers of Japanese whiskies.

In 2003’s film Lost In Translation, Bill Murray portrayed a middle-aged actor hired to be in a Japanese whisky commercial for Suntory, which seemed like a small-market joke back then. Now, Japan is the third-largest whisky-producing nation behind the U.K. and the United States. U.S. sales revenue of Japanese whisky jumped from $1.5 million in 2011 to $24.7 million in 2017. Japan’s whisky industry doesn’t have the ancient traditions that Saki has, but its production finesse and attention to quality have made it successful. Because of its international success, the suppliers have had shortages, causing a bottle which once was $50 to rise to $150, and resulting in some scarcity in the U.S. liquor stores. Nonetheless, some who sip a Japanese whisky neat for the first time claim it’s “like standing on a mountain in Japan,” and it’s “more refined, subtle, complex.”* [See some informative & fun links below.]

History

About 1923, outsiders came to Japan often carrying bottles of Scotch with them. An entrepreneur who was born into a family of sake brewers –Masataka Taketsuru — traveled to Scotland to learn the whisky trade and henceforth learned the craft of whisky-making at the Scottish distilleries and from chemistry courses at the University of Glasgow. He became the Godfather of Japanese whisky in the development of their whisky industry in the Scottish Style.

Best Japanese Whiskies (prices vary)

• Nikka Coffey Grain ($71) – blend, mostly corn
• Nikka Days ($50) – blend, grain
• Nikka Yoichi ($82) – single malt, smoky
• Suntory Toki ($40) – blend, malt & grain, best highballs
• Hibiki Japanese Harmony 17y ($70) – blend, from Suntory
• Akashi White Oak ($40) – blend, crowd-pleaser
• Shinju ($45)- blend, best cocktails
• Mars Shinshu Iwai ($50) – corn, malted barley & rye
• Yamazaki 12y ($200) – single malt, from Suntory
• Hakushu 12y ($170) – single malt, water from mountains

Links to “Best Japanese Whiskies”:

https://www.liquor.com/best-japanese-whiskies-5078590

https://www.esquire.com/food-drink/drinks/a27466729/best-japanese-whiskey-bottles/

*Link to TODAY SHOW’s Japanese Whisky Report, 7/27/21:

https://www.today.com/video/celebrating-japanese-whiskey-and-sake-117449285671