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!
The Japanese Whisky Review 2018 Wrap Up – The Year That Wasn’t!
9
After our tour of Chichibu Distillery had completed I asked if our tour guide Soma could recommend a good whisky bar in Chichibu town. He recommended Bar Te – Airigh and what an awesome recommendation it was. Now Soma called the bar Bar Cherry, as did Chichibu Brand Ambassador Yumi. I tried a google search that would translate Bar Te – Airigh to Bar Cherry but I could not find one.
Nose: Earthy peat, damp forest floor, sugared lemons, salted poached pears, saddle bags, orange peels, balsamic, apricots, brine, sour dough, mint leaves, salted cashews, diesel fumes, lychee’s. No single element overwhelms.
Nose: Not a huge sherry bomb nose. Blood oranges, dried fruits, leather, dusty old bar, cherry cream, raspberries, incense, some flintiness.
Nose: Oranges, apricots, bran, coffee bean, lime water, toffee.
Nose: Cantaloupe, honeydew melon, fresh cut timber, pears, white grapes, white peaches, honey. Water brings out a heather note.
Nose: A medley of dried fruits made up of apricots, papaya, pears and dates. Quince jam, old leather chairs, pepper, cloves, hint of vanilla, eucalyptus, camphor, charred oak and candied orange slices. Water adds lime water and brandy snaps. Could nose this all day long!
Nose: Banana mouse, brandy, blueberries, toffee, steamed corn cob, apricots, maple syrup, hint of orange, bay leaves.
Nose: Caramel salted popcorn, earthy peat, salted peanuts, mushrooms, fishing trawler diesel exhaust, marmalade, blueberries, vanilla.
Nose: Cantaloupe, rose water, vanilla wafers, white peaches, fresh cut timber, pink grapefruit.
Nose: Blueberries, malt, brandy snaps, a candy note, nicely controlled oak, pepper and a hint of sherry. Water adds nougat.
Kicking things off early this year. A big thanks to all who posted reports over the last coupe of years especially the regulars. Great work and an invaluable source of reference if the 10’s of thousands of views these posts have received is anything to go by.
Nose: Red apples, maple syrup, banana, grilled corn, toffee, nutmeg, cafe latte. 
Nose: Big rich sherry for sure. The usual suspects of raisins, prunes, dates, cherries, Christmas cake,caramelized orange juice. Also treacle, nutmeg, paprika, white pepper, black tea, pine, dark chocolate, licorice and old leather. For mine, a great sherry cask nose.
Nose: Tequilaesque pepper, butterscotch, ginger snaps, orange peel, marshmallows, oak, furniture polish.
Nose: Dusty oak barrels, old wardrobes, licorice, vanilla, peppermint, apricots, old leather satchel, cracked pepper, quince jam. A delight to nose and I would happily do so all day. A little water adds hints of toffee and tobacco leaf.
I’ve just begun reading the March issue of Whisky Magazine and in this edition there is a quite significant post in regards to Karuizawa. The Whisky Magazine Index collates the prices of live auction sites over a 12 month period and has been running since 2007. Since inception, The Macallan has taken top spot for whisky prices each year. Well each year up until 2015. This was the year that a Japanese Whisky Distillery took over the number 1 position and unsurprisingly it was Karuizwa. To save a lengthy explanation in this post as to how the index works you can check out the following 
Nose: Mixed nuts, toffee, apricots, peaches, malt. Quite a light nose.