The Japanese Whisky Industry

By Author: Bonny Kominek
Total Articles: 21
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The inception of the industry in Japan is widely regarded to be down to two men; Shinjiro Torii and Masataka Taketsuru. Torii founded the globally famed brand Suntory. He originally started with a small store in Osaka, which grew into the giant Suntory is today. An exceptional example of Suntory''s craft is Hibiki 17 Year Old. A whisky made famous in the 2003 film Lost in Translation, in which Bill Murray plays an actor filming a Suntory Hibiki commercial. Hibiki 17 is a blended whisky with cherry and fruit and an exquisite toffee and vanilla character.

Apart from Suntory, there is a second colossus on the Japanese whisky scene ? Nikka. Nikka was established by Masataka Taketsuru, who ventured all the way to Scotland in 1918 to discover the techniques and craft used to produce Scotch whisky. He took these skills back to Japan and built a distillery in Hokkaido in 1934. This was the Yoichi distillery, producer of the illustrious Yoichi 20. Another Nikka whisky is the Single Coffey Malt. This is distilled in a column still, so it is not technically a single malt (single malt whisky must be produced in a pot still). Regardless, ...
... Coffey Malt is a fine whisky in its own right, matured for 12 years it exhibits notes of bourbon and vanilla, espresso coffee and dried fruits.

He was also celebrated with the poised Taketsuru 17, another exquisite Nikka creation. This Japanese whisky is actually a blended malt ? the product of malt whisky from more than one distillery. The result is a balanced, chocolate and honey rich whisky with a sweet nose of oak and vanilla and crisp fruit and a supple palate. Our final Japanese whisky was crafted at the first Suntory distillery, Yamazaki. Their 12 year old whisky was the first Japanese whisky to be seriously marketed, and deservedly so, for its nutty, floral nose and spicy, sweet palate with citrus and tropical fruit.

Japanese whisky has become so popular of late, but I suppose it is unsurprising. Considering the popularity of Scotch whisky and the fact that both Japanese whisky and Scotch are crafted in nearly identical ways ? the original forefathers emulated production in Scotland after all. These excellent Japanese whiskies are all available from the UK online whisky store Master of Malt. Bonny Kominek has been tasting whisky fro over 20 years. One of his favourites at the moment is Tomatin Whisky, a single cask single malt whisky.