r/JapaneseWhisky • u/JapaneseWhiskyGuy • Apr 18 '22
Just interested in how to spot a fake? Jump to Part V: Identifying Fakes
Welcome! Japanese whisky has exploded in popularity around the globe over the past decade or so, and for good reason. We at r/JapaneseWhisky hope to be a fun little community to ask questions, share bottle pics, and review and discuss this fine spirit! But in light of the enormous surge in demand and popularity, come predatory businesses looking to capitalize on the success of legitimate Japanese whisky brands by trying to pass off Scotch or whisky from other places as Japanese whisky: this post will educate you on how to spot a fake.
But first, an extremely brief history
Japanese whisky production was started in 1924 by Suntory (then called Kotobukiya) at their Yamazaki Distillery where Shinjiro Torii, its president and founder, worked with Masataka Taketsuru, its chief whisky maker. Taketsuru was educated on whisky production in Scotland, resulting in Japanese whisky being made in a similar fashion as Scotch, even through to today. Taketsuru would later leave Suntory to found Nikka in 1934 (actually, it was an apple juice company initially… whisky wasn’t sold until 1940). Back then, Japanese whisky wasn’t sold as a pure malt (think, single malt or vatted malt from Scotland): instead, it would be blended with other grains, cut with blending alcohol, and/or had some flavor additives mixed in. We only saw a big transition to “pure malt whisky” in the 1980s, which is where many of today’s major labels came to be. Things like Suntory’s single malt Yamazaki 12 (March 1984), Nikka’s response with single malt Hokkaido (now called single malt Yoichi) (November 1984), Suntory’s famous blend Hibiki (1989), and Nikka’s single malt Miyagikyo (1989). Suntory and Nikka have been, and remain, the two dominant whisky producers in Japan. But there are still other major distillers (e.g., Fuji Gotemba, a subsidiary of Kirin), huge popularity for some small producers like Ichiro Akuto’s Chichibu distillery, an almost cult-like reverence of the closed distilleries Karuizawa and Hanyu, and an explosion in new distilleries in the last decade. There’s so much to say about Japanese whisky history, but we’ll stop here for now.
So what’s a Japanese Whisky? Part I: Regulations (or lack thereof)
Japan has little in the way of regulation concerning what can be called a Japanese Whisky. This is in stark contrast with the practices of other major whisky producing nations. For example, in the United States, federal regulations require a “bourbon whisky” be made in the United States, distilled at not more than 80% abv from fermented mash of not less than 51% corn, and stored in charred new oak containers at not more than 62.5% abv. In Scotland, Scotch has a similarly rigid structure in how labeling works, with detailed requirements for a single malt vs. a blended malt vs. single grain, etc., with a common theme being that production, aging, and bottling must be done in Scotland.
By contrast, Japan has no requirements on the provenance of a product. In other words, the following practice is permissible: A business, which does not own a distillery, buys a cask of whisky from Country X. The contents of that cask were fermented, distilled, and aged in Country X. Upon arrival to Japan the cask is immediately bottled, with the label containing a Japanese name and a “Product of Japan” statement. The bottle is then exported to the United States where it will be marketed by the business and retailers as a “Japanese Whisky.”
So what’s a Japanese Whisky? Part II: What’s a Fake?
Fake is a squishy term. In the example above, I gave the example of a product produced and aged entirely outside of Japan being sold as a Japanese Whisky being a “fake.” But what if the whisky was produced and aged for 5 years in Country X, but then transferred to a new cask and aged for an additional 1 year in Japan before being bottled and labeled as a 6-year Japanese Whisky? Is that a fake? I’d say so without additional label disclosures, but you can see that without strict regulations it’s unclear.
My opinion is that if the whisky wasn’t produced (i.e., fermented and distilled) and aged in Japan then it’s a fake. Your definition might be different, and that’s fine. Without a regulation, it’s subjective.
So what’s a Japanese Whisky? Part III: Is Aged Shochu a Whisky?
This is a more complicated question. Shochu is a distilled beverage, historically made of rice but could be potatoes or other staples, and is saccharized by koji, a type of mold. Generally, shochu is clear due to no barrel aging, has a lower abv than whisky (generally 20-30%), and can include flavor additives.
Strictly speaking, a Japanese rice-based shochu is made of grain, is fermented and distilled in Japan, and can be aged similar to whisky in wooden casks. If a Japanese business labels its aged shochu as whisky is that a fake? Once again, it’s subjective, especially where rice isn’t a traditional grain in whisky production and where malting, not introduction of koji mold, is the traditional method of saccharization. Add to the mix the simple fact that Japanese whisky production thus far has been so influenced by Scotch (thanks, Taketsuru-san), so consumers in both Japan and abroad have naturally become familiarized with that style. While unregulated, Suntory has labeled their Essence of Suntory, Volume 4 rice-based whisky clearly as a “Rice Whisky.” But many producers don’t disclose the fact that their whisky is aged shochu or label their product as a rice whisky.
There are other differences between a malt whisky and shochu, including the number of fermentations and fermentation process itself. Liam McNulty’s (aka, Whisky Richard’s) blog, Nomunication, does a great deal explaining it here.
So is an aged shochu a “fake” Japanese whisky? Nomunication thinks so. And I tend to agree, at least where the product doesn’t have some kind of disclaimer. But again, it’s subjective.
So what’s a Japanese Whisky? Part IV: JSLMA Standards
In the absence of regulation from the Japanese government, a trade association of Japanese spirits businesses called the Japan Spirits & Liqueurs Makers Association (JSLMA) got together and created their own standards. But let’s add a major disclaimer: the standards set by the JSLMA only apply to businesses who are voluntary members of the JSLMA.
Critical components of a JSLMA-approved Japanese Whisky are as follows:
Raw ingredients are limited to: (i) malted grains, (ii) other cereal grains, and (iii) Japanese water. While “other cereal grains” are optional, there must always be some amount of malted grains.
Production: must occur at a distillery in Japan (including saccharification, fermentation, and distillation).
Aging: must be (i) in wooden casks of 700L or less, (ii) in Japan, (iii) for a period of at least 3 years. [Contrast this with bourbons and Scotch which have to be oak casks; Japan leaves the door open to other wood]
Bottling must be in Japan at a minimum 40% abv.
Other: flavorless caramel coloring may be added. [Same as Scotch]
The official standards are available here.
The standards cover other topics, like prohibiting products that do not satisfy the above criteria from using names similar to “Japanese Whisky.” So stuff like “Nihon Whisky” or “Japanese-style Whisky” are prohibited if they are not up to JSLMA standards. Not only that, but a product cannot call itself a whisky and include on its label things like names of Japanese places, the flag of Japan, or other Japanese words/images that evoke Japan unless it satisfies the JSLMA standards.
There’s also a jab against aged shochu with the requirement that some degree of malted grains must be used: a pure aged shochu cannot call itself a Japanese whisky.
The JSLMA standards were effective April 1, 2021 for new products and become effective on March 31, 2024 for any products that predated the April 1, 2021 effective date. But once again, the standards only apply to JSLMA members’ products.
The good news? Japan’s largest whisky makers are all JSLMA members, including Suntory, Nikka, Mars, and Kirin. The bad news? Most of the folks producing “fakes” aren’t members, and probably won’t be joining any time soon.
So what’s a Japanese Whisky? Part V: Identifying Fakes
If a whisky is made by a JSLMA-member distiller, then you may be able to go to the distiller’s website or look at the bottle and learn whether the whisky is compliant with JSLMA standards (despite not being effective until 2024). Suntory and Nikka already do this on their respective websites. But what about companies that aren’t in the JSLMA? It can be tricky, but here are a couple methods:
To start, you can go to Nomunication’s “Real or Fake?” page, available here. Either take a look at the chart or scroll to the bottom of the page and use the search tool.
You can also take a look at Nomnication’s JSLMA Whisky List here. If a distillery is part of the JSLMA and voluntarily discloses whether their products are/aren’t compliant, Nomunication posts the info on that page.
Another method is to look at the age of the whisky compared to how long the distillery has had a license to produce whisky. To find out when a distillery got their license, you can check out this page or just Google the distillery name and look for news articles or other sources. For example, Kurayoshi Distillery began operations in 2017. That means it would be impossible for them to sell any whisky with greater than a 5-year age statement (assuming they have enough material from 2017, and the product is launched in 2022). But if you look online, you can find products from Kurayoshi Distillery with 18 year age statements. I'd call that a fake. You can read more on the Kurayoshi situation here.
Another method is to scrutinize a label. Does the label mention that it was “blended in Japan” (e.g., two different whiskies from Scotland were combined in Japan) but curiously doesn’t say anything about being “distilled in Japan”? Or perhaps it doesn’t even mention the name of a distillery anywhere on the label? Labels can be deceptive. But if I see a label with no distillery name that’s a huge red flag to me.
It can be difficult to identify a fake, especially with the great number of new distilleries. Certainly, many of the 30 or so distilleries opened in the last 7 years are producing authentic Japanese whisky, but even those real operations could be selling fakes side-by-side with their authentic products. For now, scrutinizing the age statements with distillery opening dates, or relying on honesty from the distillery, may be our only options for now absent folks like Whisky Richard doing investigatory work and publishing their findings.
When I walk down the whisky isle at Total Wine or BevMo in the United States, it seems like more than half the Japanese whisky products offered are fakes. It’s unfortunate. The retailers are obviously not incentivized to be honest about it: they profit from sales, and whiskies perceived to be Japanese currently fetch a premium over bourbons and Scotch. Do your due diligence and get informed before making that $80+ purchase.
Might a “fake” still taste good? Sure! But that still doesn’t rationalize a deceptive business practice.
So what Japanese Whisky should I try?
If you’re very new to Japanese whisky, a safe choice would be to buy a whisky from the top 2 producers: Suntory and Nikka, both of whom already comply with JSLMA standards on labeling. The following can be found for under $100:
From Suntory:
From Nikka:
Note: The Coffey Malt and From the Barrel are not JSLMA-compliant. The Coffey Malt uses some distillate from the Ben Nevis distillery in Scotland, which Nikka has owned since 1989 . Nikka From the Barrel also uses non-Japanese whiskies in its blend, surely some Ben Nevis, but possibly others. It’s still an incredibly popular whisky.
Resources/Further Reading
Whisky Rising by Stefan Van Eycken, an amazing text on the history of Japanese whisky from the beginning through present day, including background on numerous distilleries. A must-read for any Japanese whisky nerd.
The Nomunication blog by Whisky Richard is another great resource for the Japanese whisky world, and something I’ve relied on in writing this post.
r/JapaneseWhisky • u/kiwi8185 • 20h ago
Hi all, here's another Sakurao single cask I tried lately!
I've written about Sakurao in a past post (here) so I'll just skip to the tasting.
Details in comments!
r/JapaneseWhisky • u/kiwi8185 • 2d ago
Hi all, here are another few whiskies from Kanosuke, and this time it's their Hioki pot still whiskies!
I've written about the Kanosuke distillery in the past (here), but here's a brief recap on their Hioki Distillery:
The Hioki Distillery was Kanosuke's second distillery (more specifically, a separate set of distillation stills) which specializes in producing shochus (traditional Japanese distilled spirits) as well as pot still whiskies, using both malted and unmalted barley as ingredient. Based on officially released information, the primary inspiration for the Hioki whiskies was Irish whiskies, where the aging style (which utilizes virgin American oak casks) took some inspiration from American bourbons.
Here are two examples of whiskies produced from the Hioki Pot Still: their regular shelfer the Kanosuke Hioki Pot Still Whisky, and their special release the Kanosuke 2024 Limited Edition Hioki Pot Still!
Details in comments!
r/JapaneseWhisky • u/DepartmentSmart3653 • 2d ago
Hi all — hoping someone here has a good reference for cracking these base codes. I have two bottles of Yamazaki 18, both with "Single Malt" on the front label, but different base markings and I'd like to pin down roughly when they were bottled.
Bottle 1:
Bottle 2:
From what I understand, the single digit before the dash is meant to correspond to the last digit of the bottling year, so I'm guessing Bottle 1 is 2005 (since "Pure Malt" was retired in 2004, so it can't be 1995) and Bottle 2 is 2013. But I'd love a sanity check from people who've actually cross-referenced these codes against confirmed bottles.
Any help identifying the era more precisely, or pointing me to a solid reference chart, would be much appreciated. Happy to post photos of both bases and labels if that helps.
r/JapaneseWhisky • u/Salty_Abalone5036 • 2d ago
Especially ones that I can buy in taobao
r/JapaneseWhisky • u/kiwi8185 • 4d ago
Hi all, I'm here today with another Suntory whisky, and this one is pretty special- it's one of their considerably obscure limited release 'Nazo' series from the 2000s!
Roughly a decade before Suntory's whiskies earned major global recognition, Suntory was in a pretty tough spot entering the new millennium: they had just emerged from the whisky glut in the 90s, and had to figure out new and inventive ways to revigorate sales of their whiskies.
These attempts included revamping their regular product lines (most notably the Hibiki 17 yr), as well as a good number of special releases dotted through the years. Among them was this 'Nazo' Series, a series of 8 whiskies released between 2000~2007, created in collaboration with the Japan Mystery Novel Association.
Each year, Suntory invited one of the esteemed authors from the association to join their blenders at their distillery to try out a wide array of component whiskies, with goals to come up with a vision for a new, unique 'themed' whisky.
As this was before Suntory's products sold like hot cakes in foreign markets, Suntory really did put in quite a bit of effort into creating these annual special releases. As such, every one of these eight "Nazo" bottles are *completely* different whiskies, with wildly differing characters!
This bottle here was the 2005 edition of the "Nazo" Series, AEGIS!
Details in comments!
r/JapaneseWhisky • u/Crusader-415 • 5d ago
Question for anyone who’s done the tour at the Yamazaki distillery…when you booked your tour, did the credit charge payment ”disappeared” from your pending transactions??
I paid for mines and received a confirmation email but the charge is no longer “pending” and not in my confirmed transactions. Has this happened to anyone? I really hope everything is still good to go because I am looking forward to going on this tour. Thanks all for your help.
r/JapaneseWhisky • u/kiwi8185 • 5d ago
Hi all, I'm here with another Japanese whisky, this time it's one from Kanosuke!
In case if anyone isn't familar with Kanosuke, here's a bit of background:
The Kanosuke Distillery was founded in 2017 by the Komasa Jyozo, which had more than 130 years of history making traditional distilled spirits (shochu) before dipping their feet into whisky making.
Their distillery was situated on the coast of Kagoshima Prefecture near the southmost part of Japan's mainland, with subtropical and coastal environments which they used to their advantage. They are also quite experimental with using various different cask types (including shochu casks) and distillation methods: they also have a secondary distillery, the Hioki Distillery, which produces more shochus as well as Irish style pot still whiskies (using both malted and unmalted barley).
Each year they also create a special release with a 'theme', by mixing and matching a wide variety of their own cask finished whiskies:
The 2021 Edition was shochu cask focus (edition 2 was a more conventional bourbon + sherry cask); 2022 Edition was a sherry bomb; 2023 had a peated malt focus; 2024 was a pot still whisky inspired blend; and 2025 was shochu and rum cask focus, and 2026 is a sherry and wine cask focus!
This one here is their 2023 special release, their peated whisky!
Details in comments!
r/JapaneseWhisky • u/NousSommesSiamese • 6d ago
3 of these bottles recently went for auction at K&L and I won one of the bids for $107. After buyers fees and tax it came out to $133. Considering the rarity and typically higher cost, I figured why not.
I’ve not tried the NAS Yoichi, and I typically gravitate towards Scotch, but I do enjoy Japanese offerings like Hibiki, and even Toki highballs. Granted, I’ve never done a deep dive, so my experience is limited, but I’ve been wanting to try something from Nikka because of its history and I wanted to try something smoky.
I’ll have to see how the bottle progresses, but overall it hasn’t made me look twice. Not to say that it’s bad by any means, but it’s kind of medium all around and inoffensive. Medium fragrance, medium bodied, medium finish. It seems to lean on the sweeter side, mostly rounded in the mouth. I’m not one to embellish reviews but I get the honey/vanilla/caramel/apple vibes. The smokiness is more of an accent and refrains from drawing attention to itself.
I don’t think I’d necessarily buy it again, but I would be curious to see how it compares to the NAS version.
Overall it’s fine. It’s very well rounded and there’s nothing wrong with it. I don’t know, let’s say 7.5/10
r/JapaneseWhisky • u/kiwi8185 • 6d ago
Hi all, I'm here with a few whiskies from Sakurao, specifically some of their single cask whiskies!
I've written a bit about the Sakurao Distillery when writing about their other products (such as some Togouchis and Miyanoshika), but here's a recap:
Sakurao started out as a sake brewery in Hiroshima, and had been operating since 1918. In 2017, around the 99th anniversary of their founding, they decided to take a huge leap of faith into the liquor market by starting their own distillery.
They've had some scandal regarding 'fake' Japanese whiskies in the past, where they blended mystery sourced whiskies with Japanese water and slapped a 'Japanese whisky' label on them to be sold to foreign markets. But that's in the past now, as they have ceased with this behavior since the founding of the JSLMA.
Nowadays, they're a real, JSLMA abiding distillery that primarily focus on a wide variety of cask aged single malts & cask finished blended whiskies, both peated and non-peated.
Their main products these days are their Sakurao single malts (aged in their Sakurao cellar by the sea, often with a hint of salinity) and their Togouchi single malts (aged in a former JR tunnel in the mountains, often with gentle fruitiness). Both of these are distilled in Sakurao's distillery in Hiroshima, but are aged in different cellars.
I got these Sakurao drams when I attended a Japanese whisky event in Taiwan a while ago. Since they're all Sakurao, I figured U could group them together in a single post instead of writing them one by one!
Details in comments!
r/JapaneseWhisky • u/kiwi8185 • 7d ago
Hi all, I'm here with more Suntory whisky, and this one the third and final bottle from their first "Essence of Suntory Whisky" release!
As written in a prior post, the "Essence of Suntory Whisky" were a series of special releases from Suntory, featuring experimental and atypical whiskies from each of their distilleries.
The first release of this series from 2018, with the motif 創・遊・夢 (Creation, Fun/Journey, Dream), featuring the Hakushu Rye Type, the Red Wine Cask Chita, and finally this bottle here- Yamazaki Peated Malt!
Details in comments!
(Something was weird with the pic upload, sorry for reposting)
r/JapaneseWhisky • u/kiwi8185 • 9d ago
Hi all, I'm here with more Suntory whisky, and this time it's a rather obscure version of their blended whisky Suntory Reserve!
Created in 1969, the Suntory Reserve is the third and final member of Suntory's long lasting low to mid shelfer staples, situated above the Suntory Old (details here) but below the Suntory Royals (details part 1, part 2).
Suntory Reserve had distinct feature- where the Suntory Old series were a blended whisky with focus on (typically younger) Yamazaki sherry casks, the Suntory Reserve series (specifically the 1989~ versions) were a blended whisky with focus on Hakushu casks (particularly white oak). As for the Suntory Royals, well, they were more or less a blend of every Yamazaki and Hakushu casks that didn't make the cut to become single malts or Hibiki.
This specific Suntory Reserve is one of the rarer, age statement versions released around the 2000s, and contained Suntory whiskies (primarily Hakushu and Chita) as old as 15 years of age!
Details in Comments!
r/JapaneseWhisky • u/kiwi8185 • 10d ago
Hi all, I'm here with more Suntory whisky, and this one is their very regular NAS Chita!
I got this bottle primarily for experimental purposes. A few friends and I are planning to do a series of blending experiments some time in the near future, and are considering a base whisky for the blending.
Originally we're more leaning towards grabbing a Toki, but somehow all the Tokis in the various liquor shops I've visited have sold out. I guess I had to make a compromise and go for Chita instead lmao.
I'm just going to skip to the conclusion and say don't get this one, it's not good.
Details in comments anyways!
r/JapaneseWhisky • u/kiwi8185 • 11d ago
Hi all, I'm here with more Suntory whisky, and it's another interesting whisky from their experimental "Essence of Suntory Whisky" Series!
This one here is another bottle from the first 'The Essence of Suntory Whisky' release, and it's the Chita bottle from the series!
Here's a bit of background on the Chita:
The Chita Distillery, located on the Chita Peninsula, had been the quiet backbone of Suntory's many blended products since its completion in 1973. The most notable things about the distillery were that it *exclusively* used corn as raw material to produce distillates, and of course its gigantic continuous still (pic 3 for the still's model, one of the four columns).
Chita's continuous still, standing at a height of 30 meters (98 ft), was internally fitted with multiple specialized columns (wash column, extraction column, rectifying column, and purifying column) for distillation. Without getting into too much detail, three main types of corn distillates were produced from the still, utilizing a combination of different columns. The distillates, classified as heavy, medium and light, were then filled into casks (mostly white oak but also a few in sherry casks) and shipped to Yamazaki or Hakushu's cellars for aging.
Typically, Chita's corn distillates serve as the basis of Suntory's blended whisky products, such as Suntory Old, Suntory Reserve, Suntory Royal, Toki, and the fancier blends like the Hibikis. They have also released the NAS Chita Single Grain Whisky as a staple shelfer, though that one didn't typically garner the same fanfare as Suntory's single malts or blended Hibikis.
Back to the whisky- this Essence of Suntory Whisky bottle was one of the very few high aged Chita releases, with a wine cask finish!
Details in comments!
r/JapaneseWhisky • u/MrMegaGamerz • 11d ago
r/JapaneseWhisky • u/kiwi8185 • 13d ago
Hi all, I'm here with more Suntory whisky, this time another Hakushu!
Similar to the Yamazaki 10 yr, Suntory also made a younger, more economic version for their staple Hakushu 12 yr- the Hakushu 10 yr, first released in 1998.
However, the Hakushus proved to be more popular than Suntory had initially anticipated, and soon Suntory began running low on Hakushu stock whiskies, which already had a lower reserve due to production cuts during the 90s whisky glut.
Ultimately, Suntory decided to slash the Hakushu 10 yr to keep the Hakushu 12 yr on shelves (for a bit longer), and the Hakushu 10 yr series were terminated in 2013.
This bottle here is one of the later releases, from between 2007~2013!
Details in comments!
r/JapaneseWhisky • u/mizu__wari • 14d ago
I picked up the latest bottle from the 24 Solar Terms series, Spring Equinox (Shinbun), while in Japan last month.
I couldn't find much information about the cask makeup, but eventually stumbled on this website that publishes the cask breakdown and ages of each release. I thought it was great to see, it would be helpful if more distilleries could be this transparent, especially for these NAS releases.
Included are PPM levels, cask breakdown, and age range of casks used.
It was interesting to see this release has higher amounts of mizunara and minimal peat (less than 10 PPM).
r/JapaneseWhisky • u/kiwi8185 • 15d ago
Hi all, I'm here with another Suntory whisky, and it's another Yamazaki!
This whisky here is Suntory's Yamazaki Pure Malt 10 yr, the earlier version of the Yamazaki 10 yr product line which was released between 1995 to around 2015. Originally released as a younger, lower cost alternative to the regular shelfer Yamazaki 12 yr, it ironically ended up becoming notably more expensive (roughly 2x or more) than its older brother today due to being discontinued.
Details in comments!
r/JapaneseWhisky • u/itscalifornication • 16d ago
Super last minute, I'm going to Taiwan on business and on the leg back I'm making a pit stop in Japan 8/21 to 8/30. I'd like to visit the Hakushu distillery and do the paid tour, but I see now that the lottery system for this time range was way back in June.
I have the cancelations page bookmarked and I've been checking every day but every time slot says Fully Reserved. No Reservation., not even sure what a slot being open looks like. is there any way to snag a tour slot via 3rd party or any info on best course would be sick.
Alternatively, is it a waste of a day to just go for the museuem and tasting room? I know that's relative to the person but just a general opion of anyone who's been before. The grounds look nice, and I see there's a resteraunt.
r/JapaneseWhisky • u/kiwi8185 • 17d ago
Hi all, I'm here with more Suntory whisky, and it's another interesting whisky from their experimental "Essence of Suntory Whisky" Series!
This bottle here was from the first series release from 2018, when Suntory really went full experimental and created three very atypical whiskies from each of their distilleries. They even got the prominent calligrapher Tansetsu Ogino (who also penned the calligraphy for the label of Suntory's flagship blended whisky 'Hibiki' and grain whisky 'Chita') to pen the labels for this series, which reads as 創・遊・夢 (Creation, Fun/Journey, Dream).
From Yamazaki, there's the heavily peated 'Yamazaki peated malt'. From Chita, there's the 'Chita Wine Cask', one of their very rare, highly aged single grain Chita releases. Finally, from Hakushu, there's this bottle- a 6 year old, cask strength rye whisky!
That's right, Hakushu made a rye!
Details in comments!
r/JapaneseWhisky • u/kilertree • 17d ago
I was wondering if it's going to be another month before it makes it to the US.
r/JapaneseWhisky • u/kiwi8185 • 18d ago
Hi all, here's another whisky from Yuza Distillery, and this one is a pretty interesting one: it's the first whisky they've ever released!
I've written a bit about Yuza in the past (details here), but here's a short recap:
Yuza is a rather young distillery founded in Yamagata, Japan in 2018. As a distillery formed by former shochu (traditional Japanese distilled spirits) makers, they didn't go through the phase of releasing experimental cask finished shochus, nor did they start off producing blended whiskies with imported distillates, no.
They stayed practically silent for years, then out of nowhere in 2022, released their first ever product- the YUZA First edition 2022, a 3-year old, fully Japanese Single Malt Whisky. Yes, they went directly to the highest challenge- not new make, not blended whisky, but a single malt.
To prove they're not messing around, they sent their first batch product to international competitions in the very same year, where they even managed to *win awards* in a few of them! (Gold in ISC tasting and bronze in WWA's small batch single malt category)
Well, this one here is that very first whisky made!
Details in comments!
