This is the annual post where you can add your Japanese Whisky Buying conquests or the lack thereof. Alternatively, this is also the place to ask questions about buying Japanese Whisky in Japan but as always, don’t necessarily expect easy answers. We’ve already heard the news of Nikka dropping the rest of the Taketsuru Age Statement range this year at least in Japan. I myself have not found them readily available in Japan for a number of years so from that perspective, removing the Taketsuru Age Statement Bottlings won’t detract from general availability anyway. Last year we got fuck all from Nikka anyway except bad news and only a couple of Limited Edition Blends from Suntory, whoop de fucking do! Chichibu was generally only for those with contacts in Japan, who were first in line at one of the Whisky Festivals in Japan, or have very deep pockets and can afford them on the secondary market. White Oak Akashi Single Malts and White Oak Blends could often be found if you were prepared to do a little leg work as they are not as coveted as Chichibu or even Mars. Limited Edition Mars Whisky were not that easy to obtain for most, though I have good contacts in Japan for those. Limited Edition Mars are however in relative terms, significally cheaper than the equivalent age and quality Chichibu on the secondary market. There were also new make/new born whiskies available from at least 4 of the newer Japanese Whisky Distilleries. Often these were released in decent numbers and distribution but still mostly a being in the right place at the right time of thing. Most promising of these in my opinion were from the Kanosuke distillery.
Fortunately there is actually quite a bit to look forward to in 2020. Forget about the big boys Nikka & Suntory, the status Quo of Chichibu won’t change, neither should that of White Oak and Mars(with one exception). What we will have is official 3 Year Old Whiskies from Shizuoka, Kanosuke, Akkeshi and Mars latest Distillery Tsunuki. Sasanokawa Shuzo has already released Yamazakura Japanese Single Malt Whisky Asaka The First though in limited numbers, hopefully there will be more available in 2020.
A couple of other tips besides following this post. Check out FB pages for Japanese Whisky. There are a number of them and members often have the skinny on what is going to be released and when in Japan. Also follow Nomunication as Whisky Richard has the best ongoing source for Japanese Whisky News.
Happy Hunting to all in 2020!
