Hi guys,
My latest YouTube video has dropped here, where I discuss does maturing whisky in Japanese Mizunara Oak Casks give the whisky unique flavours? If so, what do they taste like? I’ve tried a number, either finished or fully matured. What do you think? Does Mizunara Oak add something unique that you think stands out from whisky matured in other types of Oak?
Kampai
Brian
I’ve heard this or read about this very question many times over the last decade.
Sometimes it is related to distilling technique, sometimes as an historical time line and most often about the quality of the product.
When you strip the question to the bare bones it unfortunately ends up covering the spectrum of both simplistic to complex.
So….lets delve into a stripped back version Japanese Whisky one-o’-one.
Japanese Whisky is based on Scottish Whisky Distillery principles. Pot stills, malted barley(for single malts), grains(corn and or other grains) and usually double distilled(wash still and spirit still). The barley may be peated or unpeated and for the most part over the years is not sourced from Japan due to cost. Europe, mainly Germany and Australia in Asia(yes Aussie is considered part of Asia), have been two major sources or barley for Japanese Whisky production.
The pot still’s also for the most part, are built and shipped in from the UK for instance, Forsyth’s.
The water source as in Scottish whisky production is considered of paramount importance. The site for Japans first home grown whisky distillery Yamazaki was specifically chosen by the founder Shinkiro Tori because of the quality of the local water source. Yoichi distillery in the northen part of Japan was specifically chosen by it’s founder Masataka Taketsuru because the geographical area reminded him the most of Scotland where as a young chemist, he learned the art of whisky distilling.
So how did home grown Japanese Whisky Distilling begin?
One common theme I’ve heard is that Masataka Taketsuru the founder of Nikka was sent to Scotland at the behest of Shinjiro Tori(the founder of Suntory) to study the art of whisky distilling.
The two men did know each other but Taketsuru was dispatched to Scotland by his then employer Settsu Shuzo. On Taketsurus’ return, Settsu Shuzo, for want of a better word, no longer had the where with all to support a whisky distilling endeavour. Call it kismet, but the fledgling Suntory in need of a master distillery/distilery manager for the Yamazaki Distillery found the perfect person in the then unemployed Taketsuru.
Ok, I’m not going to bore you with a more detailed history as there are some differences between the Japanese ‘Big Two” whisky companies but historically it all leads back to Scotland.
So….we have all the fundamental ingredients in Japanese whisky as we do in Scotland, grain, water, pot still/s, oak barrels and at least for the legit Japanese whisky distilleries, cannot be labelled whisky until three years old.
A matter of respect! Anyone who has visited Japan will know that the Japanese when they take to any niche, they respect and embrace the cultures they eminated from to the nth degree. It could be Jazz music, Flamenco dancing, Silent Films or booze.
Did you know that Suntory spent a decade developing the blue rose? This wasn’t just for shit’s and giggles, but out of respect for Scottish whisky distilling history and the blue in the Scottish flag.
Now down to the brass tacks…….
There will be some cultural differences between Scottish and Japanese Whisky production philosophies which have nothing to do with a rivalry. The two biggest differences these days are cost and availability.
Availability: Scottish whisky is far more readily available in volume, number of distilleries and age statement bottling’s.
Cost: Scottish whisky is easily more affordable for the same quality and or, same age as the Japanese equivalent.
Both countries can produce whisky that is a silk purse or a sow’s ear!
You all know the basic story! Japanese Whisky is in the duldrums in the early 2000’s or a bit earlier. The big two Japanese Whisky producers Suntory and Nikka(parent Asahi), ramp down production. After all, the big two do not survive on whisky alone so there is a safety net. Japanese Whisky from virtually out of nowhere gains traction in the West in around 2009 followed in the East a few years later. This actually parallel’s the international explosion of whisky(ey) as a beverage of choice worldwide. Think new money/burgeoning economies, India, China, South East Asia.
The gushing of some influential whisky bloggers(certainly not me), better accessabilty outside of Japan and a host of international awards and Japanese Whisky is the darling of the whisky/key scene. From zero to hero and all of a sudden demand far exceeds supply! Stock shortage enshews followed by panic stations! Age statement after age statement bottling’s are dropped from the lineups, replaced by no age statement versions.
I’ll fast forward through the time line of each no age statement replacements and focus on some ‘spin’ from the distilleries.
This is the stuff I have read in articles and a couple recent books on Japanese Whisky. Whisky writer interviews Master Distiller. Master Distiller says if we do not have the ‘restrictions’ of an age statement, we have a larger canvas to paint with. Example, if the bottle is no age statement we can blend any whisky from 3 years old and up where before, if we had a 12 year age statement, we can only use 12 year old whisky and up. Fundamently I have no problem with the theory if……the no age statement bottling’s are as good as the age statment whiskie’s they have replaced and the cost is commensurate(if the average age is less).
Herien lies my issue. Almost without exception, the no age statment bottling’s are not as good as the age statement bottling’s they have replaced and on like for like pricing when the age statement bottling’s were standard, the age statement bottling’s were cheaper.
Some examples in Aussie dollars –
Hibiki Harmony NAS ave price $AUD150 – not sure what they are going for in Japan. Last tasted yesterday, my own 2019 bottle.
Hibiki 17YO when a standard bottling $AUD135 – Y10,000 in Japan. Hibiki 21 Y20,000
There have been improvements since the first NAS bottling’s were released but the NAS is still only 70% as good a whisky as the 17YO.
Yoichi NAS – $AUD125
Owned and opened 3 bottles and closer now to the Yoichi 10 but double or more the price of the Yoichi 10 when available. Last tasted July 2019, my own 2019 bottle.
Yoichi 10 when a standard bottling Y4500. Yoichi 12 Y6500. Yoichi 15 Y10,000. Yoichi 20 Y20,000.
Miyagiyo NAS – Ave price $AUD135. I’ve owned and opened a couple of bottles and tasted a 2019 and not a patch on the age statements. 2019 bottling tasted at WhiskyLive July 2019. Have my own(older) open bottle as well.
Age statements were the same price structure as Yoichi minus a 20YO which was never offered
Yamazaki NAS – In style it is pure Yamazaki and cracked a newly arrived bottle today. $AUD125.
12 year old is now $AUD250. NAS I’d say is better than half the price of the 12(these days’s) but again, 20% not as good when the 12 was at 75 bucks. Yamazaki 10 when a standard bottling Y5000, Yamazaki 12 Y7000, Yamazaki 18 Y20,000
Hakushu NAS – A big disappointment – Owned and drunk a few bottle’s and not a patch on the 12YO. Yes, there are the clean forest notes of the 12 but what happened to the peat and pepper? This was Japans Talisker 10 before it was emancipated. Last tasted June 2019, my own 2018 bottle.
Age statements were the same price structure as Yamazaki.
Nikka Taketusru NAS – This is the biggest improver for me. Latest bottling’s seems to have a bigger/older Sherry Cask influence. Still, AUD$125 for the NAS when back in the day even the 21YO was about 100 bucks!!!! Despite all that, along with Nikka FTB this is my current Nikka of choice! Last tasted a week ago, my own 2019 bottle.
Taketsuru 12 when a standard bottling Y2500, Taketsuru 17 Y7000, Taketsuru 21 Y10,000
So there we have it, age statement Japanese Whiskies swapped out for no age statement whiskies and in almost every case, the no age statement versions are inferior and yet cost more.
Knowing what we know, the big two Japanese Whisky producers currently have no choice but to release no age statement whiskies. I can cop that but prices should be commensurate with having a lot of younger whiskies in the mix and the no age statement offering’s not being on par with even the youngest age statement offerings’s. If I was to put an empertical value on the no age statement bottling’s, they should be priced 30% less than the old age statment bottling’s!
Those of you who know the blog Nomunication – Tokyo Bar & Cocktail Guide, may have read this already. For those that haven’t or are not familiar with the site, Richard, the founder and editor, recently posted an interview with myself which may be of interest.
It tracks a course from my introduction to Japanese Whisky until now and is far more in depth than my own about page on The Japanese Whisky Review.
Nomunication is far more than a Tokyo Bar & Cocktail guide, I regard it as the foremost internet site for Japanese Whisky news, facts & figures.
So what does it take for the average self funded Japanese Whisky Aficionado to reach 500 Japanese Whiskies tasted? 10 years, being in the right place at the right time, spending time on the ground in Japan making contacts, unwavering enthusiasm and a whole lot of hard earned cash!
How hard was it? That is a story of 2 parts. The “Glory” days between May 2009 (the first time I visited Japan) and roughly 2014 and the leaner times after that of rocketing prices and limited availability.
Getting to 100 was relatively easy. 200 wasn’t that hard either. From memory even 300 wasn’t too bad. Beyond that it felt like hitting a brick wall and if your’e like me and just an average middle class Joe, you already know the reasons why. I won’t rehash here recent Japanese Whisky history and why prices are so high and stock levels/variety so limited, there are enough stories on the net using a simple Google search.
The majority of Japanese Whiskies I’ve tasted have been drinkable at the very least all the way up to stellar. There have been some total duds of coarse which is to be expected.
Favorite distillery style is from Yoichi and I admire Yamazaki and Chichibu for innovation and at least when you can get them, variety. Most often imbibed daily dram is Nikka From the Barrel.
Most underrated distillery in Miyagikyo and most overrated is Karuizawa. I’ve tasted about the same amount of bottling’s from Mars Whisky as I have Karuizawa and overall I’d choose Mars any day. I’ll throw in a number of Hanyu Card series as overrated at least for the price they command these days.
For those wondering if there will ever be a return to the “Glory” days of cheap prices, easy access and lots of variety I’m going to have to be the bearer of bad tiding’s. As long as supply exceeds demand no way! Not only that, even when the big players Suntory and Nikka bring a variety of age statement whiskies back on line they have repeatedly said they see their products as premium. This means they will continue to charge commensurate premium prices compared to say, Scottish whiskies of the same age and availability. I do look forward however to the 3 year old bottling’s that will be released in 2020 from the newer distilleries such as Akkeshi, Shizuoka, Kanosuke and Mars Tsunuki. 2020 will also be banner year for Chichibu who will release their first official 10 year old whisky.
Finally I’ll list 25 Japanese Whiskies that aren’t daily drams that I would always love to have a stash of. These are whiskies that left an immediate impression and haven’t failed since.
Hibiki 21
The Hakushu SM Aged 15 Years 500ml 56%
The Hakushu Single Malt Sherry Cask #9O 50021 1989 TWE 62%
Suntory Owners Cask Hakushu 2000-2011 #EL 41914 Smoky & Bitter 57%
Suntory Owners Cask Bar Hermit Private Stock Yamazaki 1996 Sherry Butt 13YO #AX70004 60%
The Cask of Yamazaki 1993 Heavily Peated #3Q70047 62%
Suntory Blended Whisky For The Peninsula Tokyo 2014 43% Sherry Casks of Yamazaki, Hakushu, Chita
Miyagikyo Single Cask 1996 16YO Sherry Cask 60% #118913
Taketsuru Pure Malt 35YO
Yoichi Single Cask 1994 18YO #400749 Warehouse 25 62%
Yoichi Single Cask 1988-2013 23YO Warehouse 25 #100212 62%
Yoichi Peaty and Salty 1989 12YO Single Cask #251224 63.3%abv
Yoichi 20
Karuizawa 1992 #6978 62.8%
Mars Moltage 3 and 25 28YO 46%
Mars Malt Gallery 1985 23YO #324 American White Oak 58%
Mars Komagatake Single Cask Vintage 1989 23YO 63.5% Cognac Limousin Cask #1060
Mars Komagatake 27 years old Sherry Casks / American White Oak Cask 46%
Kawasaki Single Grain Sherry Butt 1982 28YO # 7414 65.5%
Chichibu Mizunara Puncheon Cask # 89 2008-2017 58.2%
Ichiro’s Malt 8 of Clubs 1988 23YO #7100 57.5
Ichiro’s Malt The Game 2000 9YO 61.2%
Ichiro’s Malt SC for Takashimaya 1991 18YO 46.5%
The Single Malt Chichibu Golden Horse 12-year-old, Bottle # 0263 2008 56%
Ichiro’s Malt and Grain Kiyosato Field Ballet 26th Anniversary Bottling 48%abv
The 2018 report was once again the most viewed post on the Japanese Whisky Review. Not surprising that given the Japanese Whisky drought, even more folks are keen to know where and when stuff is available. Comments were up by almost 200 on the 2017 report with 631 vs 433. A big shout out to all those who commented, especially the regulars!
I think we all know 2019 will be at least as tough buying Japanese Whisky in Japan as 2018 but every contribution counts so please keep the comments coming this year. I know from personal experience I was able to grab a number of bottles in 2018 that I would have missed out on if readers hadn’t advised of pending releases!
Kampai
Brian AKA Dramtastic
Woo Hoo! What an awesome, ye glorious year 2018 was for Japanese Whisky!
Sorry, my bad, that was 2010!
So, as 2018 comes to a close it’s time for the reality check.
It should really only take a few lines because as the title says, it was the year that wasn’t. Now we can throw at least couple of years prior tp 2018 in the same basket but as it has been pointed out by punters with boots on the ground, it seems that by and large, this was the worst year for them trying to access ‘interesting’ Japanese whisky. We’re not talking about the ridiculously priced auction stuff but what you can buy at retail liquor stores in Japan or abroad. If you haven’t been following you can read the many stories of frustration on the Buying Japanese Whisky in Japan 2018 report.
How bad is the drought? Well Suntory, a giant conglomerate and the biggest producer of whisky in Japan, is down to a single readily available age statement whisky, Yamazaki 12. They did however generously(sarcasm), delete two popular age statement whiskies Hakushu 12 and Hibiki 17 from their portfolio. They replaced for want of a better word, Hibiki 17 with Hibiki Blenders Choice but that so far was for Japan only. Have not tried it myself but readers have reported not as good as the 17 year old. They did not even release a limited edition this year like the Yamazaki LE of previous years.
Moving on to Nikka we still have a core range based on No Age Statement Whiskies. Then we had the Manzanilla Wood Finish Yoichi and Miyagikyo for Japan and the Sherry Wood and Bourbon Wood Finished Yoichi and Miyagikyo for Europe. Bourbon Wood Finish……how exotic! Sherry Wood Finished……previously any Yoichi or Miyagikyo I’ve tasted from sherry casks were fully matured in that cask type. Basically, not enough sherry cask whisky at Nikka so they can only afford to use some for finishing. All the limited releases were also without an age statement. In previous years, at least there were single cask releases of Yoichi and Miyagikyo even though they were tough to get if you weren’t in Japan.
As an aside, early next year I’m going to post my thoughts on Japanese No Age Statement Whiskies so please bear with me on that story.
Chichibu, I think in a number of markets it’s relatively easy to find the Blend, Mizunara and Wine Wood Finish and the Double Distilleries. Limited releases fly off the shelves in Japan or are already bought up on pre-order. We’ve all seen the second hand prices of Single Cask Chichibu and I’m sure no one even a couple of years thought we would live in a world of $1000+ 5-6 year distilled only in the last 10 years. No fault there from a distillery that currently only releases about 150,000 bottles a year. These guys cannot be expected to make up for the short fall of the ‘Big Two’ Suntory and Nikka.
Eigashima White Oak Distillery, tiny concern with limited production runs gave us maybe 8-10 age statement whiskies up to 10 years old, a number being single casks. Good for them and I mean that! It is one of the few positives about the halo effect of the current popularity of Japanese Whisky. The little guys can now confidently sell everything they produce and consequently are happy to continue to distill whisky. Pricing though if you are not in Japan and cannot buy these Akashi for retail price can be problematic as they are often being sold abroad often 3 times or more. It’s a hell of a lot of money for young whiskies!
Mars follows the Eigashima story quite closely as far as number of releases in 2018. At least in Australia though, Mars is more readily available. Our largest discount liquor store chain has at one stage or another throughout the 2018 sold 8 different Mars bottling’s consisting of their core range plus 5 limited releases. That number comes close to equaling the total number of offerings from the ‘Big Two’ sold by the same chain in 2018.
There were a number of new pot/new make spirits released primarily in Japan. Good news for the future but of no impact at all on the over all state of play in 2018.
If you are like me, you would have done internet searches for Japanese Whisky News throughout 2018. Really just a case of nothing to see here and the majority of news was about the Japanese Whisky drought and discontinued age statement bottling’s.
You don’t have to be Nostradamus to see a basic repeat of 2018 in 2019. If you are a fan of Japanese Whiskies I can only suggest to keep your wits about you and be ready to pounce on any new bottling’s released in 2019.
Down the track both Chichibu and Mars should offer a little more relief from the drought. Mars in 2020 when some true(whisky aged at least three years) starts being bottled from the Tsunuki Distillery. Chichibu a little later once the second distillery which will run concurrently with original distillery and be 5 times the size, bottles whisky in around 2023. The other new distilleries looking to release Japanese Whisky in 2020 should at least provide us with some variety if not a big boost in overall output.
The true turn around however will only start when the Big Two, Suntory and Nikka, start churning out significant numbers of age statement whiskies again. When that will be is anyone’s guess!
A title such as the one for this post could at first glance look like click bait. Bit dramatic isn’t it!
I’m going to tell you a story that is only a decade old and one that I believe backs up the title.
Firstly, what has prompted the post? It is the current online Japanese Whisky news doing the rounds about Suntory discontinuing both Hakushu 12 Year Old Single Malt and The Hibiki 17 Year Old Blend in the second half of this year. Some may have even read that here at the Japanese Whisky Review as we have a number of fantastic reader/contributors adding comments in the annual Buying Whisky in Japan post. One of our contributors posted on the rumor(now true) at the beginning of the month. You may wish to follow that post moving forward as these contributors really have their finger on the pulse.
Now lets go back to where it all started, at least for me, almost a decade ago on my journey into the world of Japanese whisky. Actually, most of what I am about to write about what Japanese Whisky was available to many folks is good up until about 5-6 years ago. Maybe you didn’t have some of these bottling’s in your home country but they were readily available on line from retailers in the UK and Europe who ship worldwide.
I don’t want to dwell too much on closed distilleries such as Hanyu or Karuizawa. For most whisky drinkers you may as well be talking about the Unicorn, myths and legends that they will never see, only read about.
The Big Two Japanese whisky producers are Suntory and Nikka! Within the time frame mentioned in the last paragraph, this is what you could find easily on the shelves of liquor stores in Japan and many of them from retailers outside of Japan.
Lets start with Suntory and I will be focusing on age statement bottling’s. Number will represent the age in years and I’ll be adding the approximate price in Yen so you will be able to do the exchange rate into your own currency.
Suntory Royal Blend 12 and 15. Y2,500 and Y4,000.
Suntory Hibiki blends 12, 17 and 17 50.5% and 21. Y6,000, Y10,000 and Y20,000.
Yamazaki Single Malt 10, 12, and 18. Y4,000, Y6000 and Y20,000.
Chita Single Grain 12. Y5,000.
Next up Nikka
Yoichi Single Malt 10, 12, 15 and 20. Y4,000, Y6,000, Y10,000 and Y20,000
Miyagikyo Single Malt 10, 12, and 15. Y4,000, Y6,000 and Y10,000
Taketsuru Pure Malt 12, 17 and 21. Y4,000, Y7,000 and Y10,000.
Also readily available at retail, distillery or online.
Multiple annual vintage or special cask releases. Multiple single cask aged statement whiskies. These are the ones you might see listed on Whiskybase and wonder how the hell people got those bottle’s
Suntory even had an Owner’s Cask program in Japan where you could buy a whole cask of Yamazaki or Hakushu. Yes it was a marketing program to try and sell more whisky when the Japanese Whisky Industry was in the doldrums but again, it was in the time line I have mentioned. Suntory used to advertise the program on it’s website with prices, age, age distilled and cask type. I can tell you that you could buy many a cask for less than a single bottle some Yamazaki or Hakushu might sell today at auction.
So what do we have today that’s widely available removing the soon to be discontinued bottling’s.
Suntory
1 x Hakushu and 1 x Yamzaki single malt no age statement bottling’s.
Yamazaki 12 single malt
Hibiki Harmony and Harmony Masters Select(Airport exclusive) no age statement blends.
Chita Single Grain whisky no age statement.
A few no age statement blends.
Nikka
Nikka From the Barrel no age statement(though this is a personal favorite and generally well regarded in whisky circles).
1 x Miyagikyo and 1 x Yoichi single malt no age statement bottling’s.
Taketsuru Pure Malt no age statement.
Nikka The Blend 12YO.
A few no age statement blends.
You may not feel a hint of depression after reading that but I sure do. We are down to 2 readily available age statement bottling’s from the two biggest players in the Japanese whisky industry.
Now it’s easy to read many articles online as the the reasons why the current state of play. Doesn’t really help much though. Also, I have read where journalists have spoken to a rep from Nikka or Suntory and they are trying to talk up how they are still going to concentrate on the quality of their whisky. No doubt they will but it does not mean the whiskies will be particularly great either. Make up your own minds but from the current list, I only rate a few as stuff I’d wish to have in the whisky cabinet at all times. Can young whiskies be very good, sure can. But why should we pay the same price for NAS whisky as age statement whisky. It may not even be that one is better than another, but we also know we are paying more for an age statement whisky because the age statement cask has to recoup the time invested by the distillery warehousing the barrels for 10 years or more.
So what about the future say 3 to 8 years?
We have big production ramp ups from both Nikka and Suntory going back a few years but it will be many years before we start seeing any multiple readily available age statement bottling’s from either and then at what price? I also worry that that they will fear being caught with their pants down again and release age statement bottling’s irregularly as special releases and at premium prices.
We have new Japanese Whisky distilleries that will have bottling’s of no younger than 3 years available by the time of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. The issue here is that like Chichibu, Mars and Akashi they will be small concerns with limited production runs as will be the total amount of liquid distilled. So many whisky fans will never have a chance to buy a bottle, especially age statements or single casks. We all know the price of many a Chichibu at auction!!!
You are certainly not going to be able to nip down to Costco’s and grab a bottle when the mood strikes.
So what do we really need from Suntory and Nikka moving forward?
In the short term if you are going to bottle mainly no age statement whiskies please give it character and complexity, especially the distinct distillery characterisitcs of Yamazaki, Hakushu, Yoichi and Miyagikyo. For the most part for anyone that had the pleasure of enjoying the age statement versions, both Suntory and Nikka have failed.
Make the prices commensurate with having no age on the label. A no age statement bottling should never cost the same as the age statement bottling version did yet they do.
Have the balls to produce enough whisky so that in the future they can consistently stock retail shelves in all the major markets with various age statement bottling’s at fair prices! There, I’ve said it!
2015 was a massive year of change for Japanese Whisky though let’s start with the one thing that definitely hasn’t changed, the stratospheric prices of some Japanese whisky. This is really a continuation of what has been happening for a few years now but there were also record prices paid for a single bottle and a single lot at auction. Hanyu and Karuizawa continue to lead in this respect but really, any single cask or limited release Japanese whisky from all distilleries are not going to be cheap. That’s the halo effect cascading down from the “big” two. Over the last 12 months from my observations, prices have still been on an upward trend overall. Prices must be nearing a practical limit though except for most sort after rarest/oldest Japanese whiskies.
So why have the prices of Japanese whisky been outstripping their Scottish cousins of comparable age, and quality. Well I use the term quality in relation to how they are rated by both whisky writers and whisky enthusiasts in general, using a point scoring system out of 100. I often read comments from punters such as why would I buy a Japanese Whisky that has a rating of 90/100 for many times the prices of a comparable Scottish whisky. The first answer I would give is rarity. Wait a minute you may say, isn’t a single cask of 300 bottles of Scottish whisky from a closed distillery as rare as a comparable single cask from a closed Japanese whisky? Only in relation to the number of bottles produced from those casks. If you check out whiskybase the entire number bottles from the 21 Japanese whisky listed is 1732. Scotland has 157 distilleries and Macallan alone has 1860 bottlings listed, Caol Ila almost 2500. Closed distillery Port Ellen as another example has 970 bottlings listed and has a similar overall rating to Karuizawa which has the highest number of bottles listed of any of the Japanese whisky distilleries at less than half of Port Ellen, 400. Now I have no idea how many casks of Port Ellen are left but we all know that there are very few casks of Karuizawa left in relative terms and even less of Hanyu. I can only recall 1 single cask bottling of Yamazaki this year and none from Hakushu. Rarity from my observations will always outstrip quality when it comes to prices and Japanese whisky, especially rare and single cask whisky, is and ever will be far rarer than rare and single cask bottlings from Scotland. Supply and demand!
Another reason for the high prices of Japanese Whisky is the markets where it can be bought. There is a certain arrogance in the west that trends and opinions that are found there are universal. The fact is Asia sets it own trends. Cashed up buyers in Asia love Japanese whisky and they also do their homework. They know the rarity value of Japanese whisky. Now even with the Chinese economy slowing down and dragging other Asian economies with it, the number of people with a fair amount of disposable income is growing. We are also talking about an area with billions of people especially if your include India which happens to have the largest middle class in the world. Ok, so the middle class probably isn’t spending a couple of grand on a bottle of whisky but if there is middle class of 400 million in that country the upper middle and wealthy classes will also be large in size. Plenty of cash to splash. There is also a cultural aspect where it is prestigious to have rare stuff and the expense be damned. I’m sure that many would be surprised that some of the biggest prices paid at the record breaking auction for Japanese whisky were from Malaysia and Indonesia.
So what about the prices of standard age statement Japanese Whiskies. Unfortunately as Nikka are no longer producing age statement single malt whiskies, those standard age statement whiskies that are still left are all selling for anything between two to 5 times(in the case of Yoichi 20YO) the retail price on the resale market. I’m not even sure how long age statement Hakushu and Yamazaki single Malts will be available. The largest discount liquor store chain in Australia were selling 10 different bottling’s of Japanese Whisky. For a few weeks now they have been out of stock of Yamazaki 12 and Hibiki 12 and 17 year olds and no notification of a restock.
One positive outcome of the big players dropping some of their age statement whiskies and the general rise in popularity of Japanese Whisky in it’s homeland is that the smaller Japanese Whisky Distilleries are not only surviving but thriving. The domestic market alone can support these distilleries which gives them the opportunity to expand outside of Japan. The previously mentioned Australian discount liquor store is now stocking Mars Awai Tradition blended whisky. This would have been inconceivable even a year ago.
Things get a little tougher when I cast a critical eye over the offering’s from Nikka and Suntory that have replaced or are supplementing their whisky ranges.
Hibiki Harmony is fairly insipid and Chita Single Grain NAS is young and a bit rough around the edges.
Yamazaki Distillers Reserve NAS I think is an excellent representation of both the Yamazaki distillery and Japanese whisky in general. I’ve bought and opened 4 bottles of the Yama NAS this year. Hakushu Distillers Reserve NAS is lacking if you have tried Hakushu 12 or even the old 10YO.
Nikka Coffey Malt NAS I found a bit strange but I know others who really like it and the Nikka Coffey Grain NAS is a far more convincing effort than the Chita Single Grain NAS. I would certainly buy another bottle of the Nikka Coffey Grain.
Miyagikyo Single Malt NAS is nice and I’m not unhappy about having a couple of spare bottles. Yoichi Single Malt NAS in a big disappointment and I wish I would have tried before I loaded up on spares. I would add that I prefer Nikka From the Barrel, Nikka Pure Malt White and Nikka Pure Malt over both of the new Single Malt NAS bottling’s.
It’s going to be very interesting to see how Nikka and Suntory are going to manage expectations with these new bottling’s and in the case of Nikka with no standard age statement single malt whiskies at all. I mean, if you were just getting into Japanese whisky after reading reviews of Yoichi/Miyagikyo Age Statement bottling’s and you bought a bottle of the NAS, you really would be asking what all the fuss was about and just go buy a 10-12YO Scottish single malt instead. If your already a fan of Japanese whisky and can’t afford hundreds or thousands of dollars on the rare stuff(I’m one of those by the way), you will still be disappointed at least in regards to Nikka and Suntory stuff. Will this have been a big expansion proceeded by a big contraction for Japanese whisky from Suntory and Nikka. My only saving grace is that I bought enough when it was cheaper and can probably get through with what I already have until age statement SM whisky hits the stores again.
Of the other open distilleries I tasted some fine whiskies from Kirin, Akashi, Mars and Chichibu in 2015 though I wasn’t a fan of Mars Cosmo. Chichibu had quite a few bottling’s this year, unfortunately most were only available in Japan. I find Kirin under rated but again hard to find outside of Japan and I have to hand it to the little White Oak(Akashi), who despite their tiny output happily experiment with different cask maturation. Do a pretty good job of it as well.
So there you have it, some constants still in play such as the price of some Japanese whisky, and some huge changes where the ramifications are still unknown. Japanese whisky has also finally become a big hit domestically after many years in the doldrums.
Wishing all the readers of the Japanese Whisky Review and safe and happy festive season and a great 2016.
Firstly, apologies if any one reads this with the expectation that I have all the answers to question posed in the title. The current state of play with Japanese whiskey does however beg the question to be asked.
Back to the beginning, well not back to the beginning of when the Japanese starting producing commercial quantities of whiskey back in the early 1920’s, but the beginning of the phenomenon that has taken Japanese Whisky from zero to hero in by my calculations, about 7-8 years. Why about 7-8 years, this was the time when a well know UK liquor retailer was selling the Karuizawa 1971(2008). This Japanese whisky, at least in sample form, was reviewed by a very influential whisky blogger who is also famous for being a huge fan of this distillery. I will add that the very same UK liquor retailer uses this whisky blogger to promote their Japanese whisky, so are well aware of said influence(though I’m sure they are not the only ones).
Now there will be at least one professional whisky writer and more than likely a few others who will claim they were extolling the virtues of Japanese whisky before this time, which they were, but I have no doubt that before 7-8 years ago, Japanese whisky was still largely viewed as a novelty. Also from memory, that Karuizawa 1971 was only sold for somewhere between GBP90-110(I can never quite remember as being from Australia we could order it without VAT so it was cheaper than if you lived in the UK). That price point is significant, we are not talking about 1988 but 2008, only 7-8 years ago. We know what they sell for on the resale market but we also know that if it was a retail release today, it would be hard to believe a 1971 Karuizawa would sell for less that GBP1000. The novelty value of Japanese whisky extended back to Japan itself. Forget about the cheap blends used for highballs which have been around since day one of Japanese whisky production, when I first travelled to Japan which was within the time frame mentioned, I saw bottles of Ichiro’s Malt the Game 1st Version for Y6900. At the time that was about USD$69. I gave some thought to grabbing a bottle but decided on some other stuff. Back then Karuizawa was still distilling and you could buy their OB 12, 15 and 17 year olds from liquor stores. Anyway back to that bottle of Ichiro’s Malt, I went back to Japan 6 months later and at that same store the bottles were still sitting there(try and picture that happening these days) and I grabbed one. Now this was a single cask 9YO distilled in the year 2000. Now your looking at Euro1500 for one of these on the resale market. Of course with 20-20 hindsight I should have bought them all : ). I can also tell you that in Japan up until about 4 maybe 5 years ago, there was not a single bottle of Karuizawa or Hanyu for that matter that was selling for more that Y20000 so about US$200 at the time. Here is a link to Ichiro’s Akuto’s Venture Whisky site from about 7 years ago. www.iiosake.com/venturewhisky-card.html and hit the translate button. Trust me it’s ok to cry a little, actually a lot, when you see the original prices if you are not familiar. These days if you want to buy this stuff and really I’m going to include any rare non standard offering from any Japanese distillery you only have a few choices.
a) Pay what’s being asked for and gotten on the resale market. Average Joe’s need not apply at those prices.
b) Get email notifications of upcoming releases from the few retailers that control this market. Then set your calendar and hit the go button as soon as they appear online. Of course wait for the page to time out ‘cuz every other man/woman and their dog are trying to buy them at the same time because they know the prices will double as soon as they are gone. Actually I take that back, it’s more like triple.
c) Be on great terms someone who works for or owns the store that controls this market. In Japan something like Ichiro’s Malt The Joker(as an example), will not make it onto the retail shelf or online retail. They are all pre-spoken for before then.
Now we even have ballots or expressions of interest or similar for Karuizawa and Hanyu not only internationally but also in Japan. I have seen this on the last single casks released of Yoichi and Miyagikyo on the Asahi shop site.
Exploring prices a little more every one can remember when the likes of Yamazaki and Hakushu 18YO’s climbed steeply in pricing a few years back. Two things I’d like to mention in this regard, firstly the prices internationally only went up to roughly the equivalent they have been selling for in Japan for years before. Secondly I speculate supply and demand. I really think that the major whisky produces in Japan are happy if they sell fewer bottles of long aged whiskies due to low stocks and have deliberately put the brakes on through pricing.
More evidence of dwindling aged stock are the likes of Hibiki 30 and Takatsuru 35 YO no longer being bottled. Takesturu 25YO was a replacement for the 35 year and even though you can still pick it up I’m not sure Nikka are bottling any more. Also there are the retailers that have been known for stocking Japanese whisky either in Japan or Internationally. Where it was not uncommon for these retailers to sell 50-60 different bottling’s a year or two back, now they are stocking 30 maybe 40 on a good day.
Lets have a distillery by distillery check of the action over the last 12 months or so:
Asahi(White Oak) – Only have one or two small production runs every year subject to whether would they would even bother to do that in any particular year(they produce other liquor as well).
Chichibu – We had the Chibidaru 2014 and a few limited production bottling’s(well even more limited than the Chibidaru) that very few people outside of Japan would be aware of because they were only sold there. By the by, if you wished you could get a hold of those Japan only release Chichibu, happy day’s only if you thought paying anywhere between $180-500 for 5-6YO whiskies was good value!
Hakushu – Well of coarse Suntory knowing they are struggling with aged casks have released the N0 Age Statement “Distillers Reserve” I think they’ve cut back or cut out the 10YO and we still have the 12 and 18 year old. We had the 2014 Sherry Cask but the Bourbon/Heavily Peated Casks annual releases went by the wayside. I think you may be able to find the 25YO if you could be bothered paying the stupid price it sells/sold for. Single casks, forget about it.
Hanyu – A smattering of limited releases if you could source them or afford them and usually both.
A big disappointment for me was they ‘finished’ the Card Series with the Jokers then in what I would call a cynical marketing ploy released the double card bottling/s. I can’t remember it there was more than one but that’s because I didn’t care.
Karuizawa – I would say pretty lame for the Karuizawa fans. Releases are getting fewer and farther between. Not such a big deal if your like me and can’t afford them(and the fact that I think they are the most over rated distillery on the planet).
Kirin: They actually released a blend and a young single malt. See, it was worth them closing Karuizawa when they had such a strong whisky output themselves : ). You can also pick up some other Single Cask and Single Grain stuff from these guys if you are in Japan.
Mars: Released a couple of blends and more importantly a couple of young single malts. This is actually really important for the future health of the Japanese whisky scene. I do believe they have some single cask stuff left from back in the ‘olden day’s’ but I have also heard that the cartel that controls Hanyu and Karuizawa are trying to get a hold of them.
Miyagikyo– Their standard range of 10/12/15 are still being bottled. Wait, I never see the 10YO any more. Single casks, forget it unless you were one of the privileged few who’s expression of interested was accepted by Asahi.
Yamazaki: See Hakushu. I should mention and this also goes for Hakushu, Suntory had the owner’s cask program running for a number of years and that seems to have sucked up most of the single cask offering’s they were prepared to release. Yes, places like Isetan in Japan do get single cask bottles from time to time from Yamazaki and Hakushu, but you you’ve got to be in the right place at the right time to get them. Of coarse we all know that the 2013 Sherry Cask(non single cask) release won a 2014 Whisky of the Year award!(I don’t have a sarcastic smiley). Far more importantly there were no 2014 releases of the sherry/bourbon/Puncheon/Heavily Peated/Mizunara casks released outside of Japan. Mizunara was a released in Japan but none of the others to my knowledge.
Yoichi: See Miyagiyo. I also believe that the 20YO, although you can still pick it up is not being bottled anymore or is certainly on the way out.
Nikka – Their pure malts, Black etc and blends such as From the Barrel are still readily available as is the Coffey malt and Coffey grain offerings.
Suntory – Their standard blends, think Kakubin, are still kicking along, Hibiki, the 12 and 17 are readily available but as mentioned the 30 although there might a few bottles left on shelves is now defunct in regards to new bottling’s and the 21 year seems to be coming rarer if not extinct in the neat future.
So where does this leave us at least the short to medium term in regards to what we will see from the Japanese Whisky producers, by short I mean in the next 12 months, medium at least the next 5 years:
From the major players such as Nikka and Suntory pretty much what we have come to expect over the last 12 -15 months. What you see on the shelves now with some limited stuff in Japan.
From players like Asahi/Mars/Kirin, you really need to be in Japan to buy their whisky. Hopefully Mars will be able to get their production numbers up so they can start creating a rep outside of Japan by making their whisky available in at least the UK/Europe. I think this would take quite a while though.
Hanyu/Karuizawa, doesn’t matter how many casks are left in reality, in any real terms there are sweet bugger all left and I bet pounds to peanuts very few are good enough to be released as single casks. The cartel won’t tell you that though!
Chichibu, of course we know that Akuto-san can make fine whiskey. Not only that you can taste the family heritage back to Hanyu. Biggest problem is price. Yep, I was happy to spend up to 100 buck on a fine young whisky. But when you are talking about 180-500 bucks, I like many people will baulk. We will have to wait and see what happens when Chichibu gets to producing a 10YO whisky and where Akuto-san sets the pricing at. There is also the major issue of the limited production capability or the numbers of bottles that Akuto-san is prepared to make. At the moment it would seem hard to envision at least in the next few years, there being enough production to start releasing Chichibu in the US.
Time to wrap things up. I get a lot of email from people asking where they can buy the rarer Japanese whiskey they read on whiskey reviews. They read about the many awards that Japanese Whiskey has won over the last half decade or so. Whisky drinking folk, or a lot of them at least, are finally convinced that Japanese Whiskey is not a novelty any more, but a product that can equal and often exceed the finest from Scotland. So what has happened now that so many whiskey drinkers have reached this epiphany?? They can’t buy the stuff that created the Legend! Sure in the US and Australian you can now buy more varieties of Japanese whisky than you could ever buy before, a whopping 6-8 varieties. There was a time a couple of years ago or so that you could jump on a whisky forum and read reviews about Japanese whisky from average punters even Hanyu and Karuizawa. You could see on the ‘what are you drinking now’ page or the ‘what is your latest whisky purchase page’, people mentioning a dram/bottle of Japanese whisky. Now seeing this is few and far between. Regular bottling’s have gone up in price relative to their Scottish counterpart and the single cask/rare bottling’s have gone into the yeh I can afford a bottle if I’m listed on the Forbes Richest 400 people list.
Could it be that legitimacy of Japanese Whisky that has been forged over the last 7-8 years will slide simply back into novelty?
*Note: Please take time to read the comments being posted on this page. There is lots of interesting reader feedback, experiences and updates including Chichibu in the US and Mars Revival in France, I seem to have dropped the ball on those 2.
Well in the flesh at Casa Dramtastic. Most readers would have seen some release images of these. I’ll go out on a limb and say this is the first time both of these have been shown to the general public by someone who now owns them. No need to go into any of the particulars of these bottling’s as you can read about that over at Whiskies R Us. My thoughts are around what it’s like to finally have these babies in my grateful hands.
First thing, is that I had my order in for over a year. Of course I didn’t now when the release would be but I knew I had to be ahead of the game to even have a chance. Nothing is set in stone either, some retailers will/have received an allocation, many won’t. I was lucky enough to be in contact with someone who did and who generously kept me in mind for one of each label. For me this is going to be hard to beat for Japanese whisky release of the year for a number of reasons. It is, as far as I know, the end of the Ichiro’s card series. No more cards or derivatives of playing card games up Akuto-sans sleeve so to speak. Also, the black and white labeled bottling of the Joker is now officially the oldest Hanyu released to date and the fact that it was finished in a Mizunara oak cask at that. No doubt a deliberate choice for a whisky of such significance. Finally, the colour label version of the Joker would seem to be the most ambitious vatting of different cask types of Hanyu yet.
In the photo, the whisky in the B&W Joker looks darker. This is not a trick of the light or angle of the photo, it is darker than the colour Joker. Could be because the colour Joker has some younger whisky in the mix, could be it’s a vatting of different cask types, could be a combination of both or none of the above. They both sure look tasty!
Now for the problem. The colour Joker I purchased for Y12777. In under a week these were already selling in Japan on the resale market for 5 times that price. I have not seen a bottle of the B&W Joker being resold yet, but heaven only knows what they will fetch when they do. That then put these in the, I can only dream of owning one these category for most whisky fans. Supply and demand can be a real bitch sometimes!
So, what am I going to do with mine? Stare at them un-opened for a while for a starters. The B&W will then be put away with the rest of my closed bottles. It’s such a wonderful piece of history that it will be a long time before it is opened. The colour label Joker, I guess I’ll crack that on a whim someday…….
A comment left today by a regular reader of The Japanese Whisky Review got me thinking. Basically it was in regards to my recent tasting notes on a couple of releases from Mars Shinshu and how difficult they are to source in Europe. These reviews were of stock that has been maturing at the current distillery site, but was distilled before production was stopped and at one stage, thought to be never starting up again.
Now I reviewed some New Pot peated Mars whisky a while back so I thought I’d go check the distilled dates. Yep, March 2011. So, potentially we may see the first of the new production spirit from this great little distillery that can be officially called whisky as early as April this year being 3 years old. Now that is something to get seriously exited about!
As the Festive Season begins in earnest in many places around the world, I’d like the wish those are who are celebrating, a very happy and most importantly safe Christmas. I would also like to thank everyone for their patronage of The Japanese Whisky Review over the past year. The number of readers has far exceeded my expectations. I’ll be capping off my year with a trip up to Osaka and looking forward as always to tasting some fantastic Japanese Whisky.
Ok, if you come from Europe or the UK you might being saying yeh so what, we already know. That’s because you would have witnessed the steady and more often that not, huge increase in the price of Japanese whisky over the last few years in those places, especially single cask stuff and even more particularly whisky from Karuizawa and Hanyu. But in this case I am not talking about prices in the UK or Europe, but Japan.
The fact was, that if you lived in Japan or had contacts there up until 12-18mths ago you had access to some rare, though not always good Japanese whisky and a lot of it. Primarily I’m talking about old whisky not new releases. Happy days if you had some spare cash and a crystal ball. Now for the most part I’m not a fan of Karuizawa, but these and I mean Japan only release stock, could be had between 80 and 150 bucks all day long. In fact sellers had a hard time offloading them. Hanyu, even new releases up until about 18 mths ago would often not sell for 6mths. No fighting to get in line, if you had the readies then the Japanese whisky world was your oyster. At this stage I will add that even although I have a decent amount of Japanese whisky here at Casa Dramtastic, there were many bottles that I had to let pass by due to lack of funds.
So why the change of attitude about the collectability of their own whisky by our friends in Japan. Is it because they finally realized that they make world class whisky that competes with the best from Scotland? I really don’t think so. The Japanese love their Yamazaki, Hakushu, Yoichi and Miyagikyo. Those distilleries have not had to worry about demand for their ‘standard’ lines for a number of years. Nope, I just reckon the speculator market has taken hold as news of what’s happening to prices of rare Japanese outside of Japan has reached Japanese ears. The presales of new releases of single casks from Karuizawa and Hanyu released in Japan that appear within a week at double the price and more on the auction scene smack of we don’t know if it’s good or not but we figure we can make a quick buck by flipping whatever we can get our hands on. There are probably not any more rare Japanese whiskies hitting the auction market than there was a few years ago, but the prices being asked are out the of reach of most mere mortals. That is not to say people aren’t bidding, almost anything but the most basic blends attracts bids and a lot that are totally crazy. Why crazy, because I’ve tasted a number of them and they aren’t that good or not as good as the prices fetched would indicate. Recently there was a bottle of 21YO Karuizawa for sale, don’t know what it went for, but bids were up to Y100,000(USD1000) with a number of days left on the Auction. For sure this was a rare bottle in terms of how many I’ve seen over the years, maybe 3, but it wasn’t a single cask and very few people would have tasted it. The bottle wasn’t even full with evaporation dropping the level down by 15%. Crazy!
So what does it all mean for those who’s means are only average. Forget about getting your hands on this stuff anymore. I for one am not going to pay the 400 bucks being asked for a 6 year old Hanyu I saw for sale the other day. I have picked up a few rare Kirin recently that are in relative terms good value and often good quality. Beyond that I am trying to grab new releases before they sell out. Will the bubble burst, not in the short to medium term me thinks especially when the last stocks of Karuizawa and Hanyu have dried up.
Hi all,
There seemed to be a bit of a flurry earlier on this year in regards to new releases of Japanese Whisky. Probably had something to do with TIBS/Whisky Live Tokyo being held in April. Sure there has been some Karuizawa, but nothing new in that. Well except for the prices going up as fast as an rocket on the resale market once the initial offer has sold out. There is a couple of not particularly inspiring bottling’s coming up as per Whiskiesrus latest posts.
Let’s hope there is something juicy in the pipeline from any or all of the Japanese distilleries before years end. Rumors have included new stuff from Chichibu and Mars Shinshu.
On a personal front I have managed pick up some rare Kirin bottling’s over the last couple of months. Not only are some of these Kirin very good whisky, but relative bargains considering how few there are for sale.
Every now and again I troll the pages of Google looking for news about Japanese whisky. One of those occasions was this evening when I came across an article in the almost famous/infamous Huffington post.
Now apparently the article was written, at least in part, with commentary from Suntory brand ambassador and again I assume ambassador to the US, Neyah White.
Talk about perpetuating nonsense. Well, not all of it, but certainly some sterotypical artistic marketing license is used to be sure.
So, please let me quote some of the most annoying, lets say cloying to add a term often used in tasting notes, stereotypes and misdirection’s(from reality) to highlight.
“Hibiki 12, which White described as “the most Japanese” of the product line,” Huh, seriously, the whole product line from Suntory!!. It is at best a good blend and like all blends compromises on a heavily defined set of tasting values, a la single malt, in favor of appealing to as many easy going palates as possible. Yes I know that many single malt drinkers rate it highly, but as far as I can tell only those who have a limited option of Japanese whisky to buy/try in their home market.
Furthermore, “is a blended whisky that ends up taking on many of the best characteristics of both of the single malts in one glass”. This tastes nothing like a Yamazaki single malt or a Hakusuhu single malt, which are very singular in their focus and profile indeed. As Suntory blends are more ‘grainy’ than many a Nikka blend, there is as much or more influence from grain whisky from Suntory’s Chita grain distillery than there is from the Yama and Hak malts in the blend.
Moving on, “As White explained, “In Japan, you just don’t drink without eating. It isn’t done.” This means that whisky-drinking occasions in Japan tend to last longer, but it also means that the whisky has to be able to complement a wide variety of foods. White compares the flavor profile of Suntory’s whiskies to a bento box, “as you go around to each compartment, you hit all the flavor receptors on your tongue.” It’s this flexibility in the whiskies that often causes people to describe them as “light” and “easy to drink.” They simply taste good with everything else.
That one deserves a double huh. Maybe he has never been to a bar in Japan. Or maybe, he thinks a bowl of nuts or other nibbles is a wide variety of foods. Maybe Mr White has never tasted a single cask Japanese whisky. The type of whisky that one would spend 20 minutes just nosing and even a newbie wouldn’t consider combining food with. No, in Japan there is a very sophisticated whisky market and there has been for at least 30 years. What was true in the early days of Suntory, when the average Japanese palate was only coming to terms with whisky as a beverage has not held true for years. Yes, there is a big market for highballs as a refreshing alternative to beer, but this has no relation to the Suntory single malts and blends that have been released or being released in the States.
Next cab off the rank, and I believe this one is from the journalist writing up the story, “Our favorite of the line is definitely the Yamazaki 12. It has the robust butteriness of our favorite bourbons, the gentle smokiness of an easy-drinking Scotch and just a hint of the bright astringency of our favorite Irish whiskies” Gotta love that the gentle smokiness???? Maybe she was thinking of Hakushu. Have the feeling though the author has never tried a Japanese whisky in her life…..
In summary, after at least a half a dozen years of Japanese whisky appreciation at the more sophisticated end of the market in many countries around the world, it would seem the main stream press continues to portrait Japanese whisky as a quant, novel curiosity and they still can’t be bothered to scratch any further that skin deep. It also seems that at least one of Suntory’s brand ambassadors is happy to oblige.
P.s For readers who miss the reference in the title of this post, it comes from one of the Austin Powers movie and denotes something that is quite silly. I would also like to point out that the post was not meant to be a singular dig at only one media article/outlet, but reflects my opinion on just about every story on Japanese whisky I read online from the regular press.
On various whisky forums there is often much debate/finger pointing/conjecture, about whisky blogs and whisky samples. Mostly around who is getting freebee’s and what repercussions this has for objectivity or even the ability to write accurate notes from sometimes very small samples.
So to set the record straight, here at The Japanese Whisky Review I will confirm the following:
The closest I have ever had to receiving free samples comes in 3 parts.
I received a sample to go with a very expensive bottle I bought once. This may happen again, but only when I have purchased a full bottle. I wrote notes on this site from this sample.
I enjoyed tasting some samples at a bar once and then went out with the owner to another bar where I picked up the tab for food, whisky and cab fare. I only wrote tasting notes for this site on one of the samples(which I subsequently bought a bottle of).
I have swapped a small amount samples, often sending more than I have received and of greater rarity.
I buy 99% of my samples from whiskysamples. So when you read at the bottom of a review, notes taken from a purchased sample, 99% of the time, this is where I bought it from.
So why don’t I solicit samples? Because I believe it is the only way to remain totally objective when writing tasting notes. I am a Japanese Whisky Enthusiast pure and simple, just like my readers, putting my hand in my pocket to support a passion that I love, just like they do.
So this whisky has won a couple of ‘whisky awards’ of late. As you will see from my notes, I was already a big fan back when it was first released. So what’s going on with this bottling outside of Japan a couple of years later. Now I follow whiskyauction fairly closely. I think this may be the first time I have seen this particular Mars bottling listed. Now I paid about Euro 115 in 2011. Bidding is currently at Euro 242. Auction finishes on the 8th of June. I’ll be tracking to see where this one ends up.
UPDATE 27/5/2013 – I’ll add that some retailers in Japan who did not stock this bottling when it was first released, now have it on the shelves with a ‘NEW’ tag. Price in Japan however, remains the same as in 2011.
Day 11 and I decided the head back to Bar Hermit Regalo. Why, because when you are on a cheap thing stick to it I say. Basically stuck with 3 of the Ichiro’s Card Series malts they have on their special price list at the moment and one that wasn’t but had always wanted to try. That 4th one was the Ace of Spades 1st release. Even at the regular price of Y2500, this to me was still good value compared to many other bars. This Ace of Spades only had an outrun or 122 bottles so there could not be too many still floating around, at least not open and available at a bar that any adult can walk into off the street. There was a second release Ace of Spades with an outrun of 300 bottles, released in 2006 and bottled at 55.7%.
Tasted:
Ichiro’s Malt Vintage 1986-2007 21YO Hogshead 58%
Ichiro’s Malt Jack of Spades 1990-2007 17YO New Wood Finish #7002 54.2%
Ichiro’s Malt Queens of Diamonds 1985-2007 French Cognac Cask Finish #9109 58.5%
Ichiro’s Malt Ace of Spades 1st Release 1985-2005 20YO Spanish Oak Sherry Butt Finish 55%
Day 12 had me tidying up my bottle purchases. Had a few pre ordered before I arrived in Japan and there was few more to buy.
So this is what I am taking home and a big shout to my family who are with me and agreed to be whisky mules giving up their own duty free allowances.
2 x Ichiro’s Malt Hanyu 2000-2012 12YO Mizunara Heads Cask for Isetan 59.2%
1 x Yamazaki Single Sherry Cask for Isetan 1998-2011 #CU 70067 61%
1 x Yamazaki Heavily Peated NAS 2013 48%
2 x Karuizawa 12YO OB Hanshin Tigers Label 40%
1 x Karuizawa Colors of 4 Seasons 1st Release 2000-2012 #5329 64.2%
2 x Karuizawa Colors of 4 Seasons 2nd Release 2000-2013 #5173 64.8%
1 x Karuizawa OB 1966 21YO 43%
1 x Karuizawa Memories 1991-2013 21YO Sherry Butt #9106 63.7%
1 x Mars Single Cask 1990-2011 21YO American White Oak #902 64.7%
Not a purchase, but I also was kindly given a 180ml bottle of Yoichi Genshu Sherry and Sweet, Single Cask, Cask Strength.
Day 13 is leaving day. Evening flight back to Australia but we have to head to the airport just after 5pm. As most dedicated whisky bars don’t open until 6pm, whisky drinking for this trip is done and dusted. Hang on, the try before you buy bar at the Isetan department store in Shinjuku opens at 2pm and they have a couple of Single Cask Japanese whiskies available to try that I haven’t tasted before. Maybe enough time to sneak in 2 more………….
You’ll see in this post a picture of the latest collaboration between Ichiro Akuto of Venture Whiskies(Hanyu/Chichibu) and Shinanoya a liquor/fine food chain based in Japan. It is a 1986 26YO Hanyu finished in Madeira wood, bottled at cask strength with an outrun or 260 bottle’s. It’s official release was the 25th of April this year and I’m not sure it even made it to retail shelves before it sold. Places like this often advertise the product with the release date and those in the know and the coin to pay for this sort of gear, have already pre ordered. So why is this a relative knew phenomenon with Japanese whisky in Japan, not the ability to pre order, the fact that they are now doing it. In other words, the Japanese now have a growing appreciation of their home grown high end whisky.
When I first came to Japan 4 years ago, the first retail liquor store I visited was Shinanoya Shinjuku branch. They had 2 Owners Cask bottling’s from Suntory and Ichiro’s Malt The Game 1st Edition. I bought one of the Owners Cask Hakushu. I came back 6 months later and the other 2 bottling’s were still in stock, so I grabbed them. Nowadays something like Ichiro’s Malt the Game would pre sell before hitting the shelf. Not only that, it cost Y7900.
So, I get emails asking me to suggest places to buy Japanese whisky from people overseas travelling to Japan. When they turn up, mostly they can only find the standards, not the single cask stuff they read about on TJW Review.
So the local Japanese whisky appreciation scene has grown markedly in just 4 years, this often leaves ‘only’ the standard stuff for whisky fans from other countries when they come a knockin’ for the good stuff when they get here. As I wrote in the heading, herein lies the problem, at least with buying much of the good stuff from Japan when you don’t live here.