Review | Hibiki 40 years old

This new whisky is the oldest ever version of the award-winning Hibiki blend from The House of Suntory. It features whiskies from the company's three distilleries of Chita, Hakushu and Yamazaki. There are six component whiskies in total - the largest percentages are Yamazaki American Oak from 1983, Hakushu Lightly Peated from 1981 and two Chita single grains from 1979 and 1981. Smaller percentages in the blend include Yamazaki Spanish Oak and Yamazaki Mizunara Oak, both from 1983. 

Review | Hibiki 21 years old 100th Anniversary Edition

The House of Suntory, the founders of the Japanese whisky industry, are celebrating their centenary this year. Several events and bottlings have marked the occasion but arguably none are more special than this new release - the Hibiki 21 years old 100th Anniversary Edition. The rare blend has been created using whiskies from each of Suntory's distilleries - Chita, Hakushu and Yamazaki. A pocket of the Yamazaki spirit that was used has been matured in Mizunara oak casks.

News / Japanese Whisky Laws To Change

Big things are about to happen within the Japanese whisky industry with the announcement this week of a change to the laws governing the labelling of products from Japan. These have been drawn up to tackle growing concern that the reputation and sales of Japanese whisky, both of which have grown rapidly over the last decade, could be irreparably harmed if not acted upon. The current loose regulations can mislead customers, with the newly announced ones offering more transparency so that consumers know what they are purchasing and drinking.

At the core of this is that many Japanese whiskies are not what they appear to be - ie : they may not actually be Japanese. Many brands actually include whiskies from other countries (such as America, Australia, Canada, Ireland and Scotland) alongside Japanese whisky in the blend. In some cases there can be no Japanese whisky present at all in a 'Japanese' blend. 

Inbox - The Week's Whisky News (January 26, 2018)

Welcome to Inbox.  For those new to WFE, Inbox is our weekly round up of whisky news and PR material that has found its way in to our email inbox. It was created as we cannot write full articles or do justice to every piece received. It features items from around the world of whisky and is published by us each Friday.

Review - The Chita Single Grain Whisky

Renowned as innovators in Japanese whisky, Suntory have released their first single grain whisky into the International market designed as a new style of whisky for a new audience. Blended from spirit aged in wine
and Spanish oak casks alongside American white oak, Chief Blender, Shinji Fukuyo has created what Suntory describes as "a milder whisky with a clean, clear finish and unparalleled sophistication and complexity". It has been bottled at 43% ABV.

Inbox - The Week's Whisky News (June 16, 2017)

Welcome to Inbox.  For those new to WFE, Inbox is our weekly round up of whisky news and PR material that has found its way in to our email inbox. It was created as we cannot write full articles or do justice to every piece received. It features items from around the world of whisky and is published by us each Friday.

Review - Yamazaki Sherry Cask (2016 Edition)

The multi award winning Japanese distillery of Yamazaki has announced the release of the 2016 Edition of its Sherry Cask expression. A previous version (the 2013 expression) gained fame by being voted 'Whisky of the Year' in Jim Murray's Whisky Bible 2015. There will be just 5,000 bottles worldwide and the whisky has been taken from ex-Oloroso sherry casks hand selected by Shinji Fukuyo, the Chief Blender at Suntory - he is only the fourth person to hold this position in Suntory's history. It joins three other expressions in the Yamazaki Cask 2016 Collection - the Bourbon Barrel, Mizunara & Puncheon.

Review - Hibiki Japanese Harmony

The Japanese Harmony is the latest addition to the core range of the Hibiki.  The new whisky has been created by Shingo Torii and Shinji Fukuyo, Master Blender and Chief Blender respectively at brand owners Suntory.  They have used the same whiskies as in the original version of the Hibiki blend, which was first released in 1989. The pair have used single grain whisky from Suntory's Chita grain distillery plus malts from their Hakushu and Yamazaki distilleries.  These have been matured in a combination of American white oak, Mizunara oak and ex-sherry casks.

New release - Yamazaki Distiller's Reserve

The Distiller's Reserve is a new single malt from the Japanese distillery of Yamazaki. The whisky has been constructed to showcase the qualities of Yamazaki's young single malt, which have been matured in ex-red wine casks for three years. These have been accentuated by blending with older malts matured in ex-sherry casks (aged approximately 20 years) and Japanese oak (called mizunara) casks, which are 12+ years old. All the casks used have been hand selected by Shinji Fukuyo, who is only the fourth Chief Blender in owner Suntory's 90 year history.

New release - Hakushu Distiller's Reserve

The Distiller's Reserve is a new single malt from the Japanese distillery of Hakushu.  The whisky has been constructed to showcase the qualities and characteristics of Hakushu's young lightly peated single malts.  These have been accentuated by blending with older heavily peated malt and aged (all of which are 18+ years old) American oak matured whisky.  All the casks used have been hand selected by Shinji Fukuyo, who is only the fourth Chief Blender in owner Suntory's 90 year history.

Have just tried - Taketsuru Pure Malt 12 years old

This is a whisky that is produced by the Nikka Whisky Distilling Company in Japan and is the entry level product in their Taketsuru Pure Malt range.  Nikka own two single malt distilleries - Miyakigyo (pronounced mee-yag-ik-yo) and Yoichi (pronounced yo-ee-chee)- and both are included in this whisky.  The term Pure Malt is used as there is no grain whisky in the product, just single malts.  This 12 years old expression is joined by two others in the Taketsuru Pure Malt range, which have age statements of 17 and 21 years of age.

Have just tried - Miyagikyo 12 years old

The Miyagikyo distillery (pronounced mee-yag-ee-kyo) is a Japanese whisky distillery that was found in 1969 and is owned by the Nikka Whisky Distilling Company.  They own two distilleries in Japan, with the other being Yoichi.  They also own the Ben Nevis distillery near Fort William in Scotland.  Miyagikyo is located in the Miyagi Prefecture to the west of the city of Sendai.  The distillery was firstly named as Sendai, then changed to Sakunami before becoming known as Miyagikyo in 2001.

Distillery Visit - Yamazaki

When it was suggested ages ago that my girlfriend Harriet and I might go on holiday to Japan for a couple of weeks it didn’t take me long (instantaneously in fact) to start thinking about what distilleries we could visit while we were over there. Luckily Harry is quite understanding in these matters so when we flew off to Japan in September, I’d managed to arrange for us to pay a visit to Suntory’s Yamazaki distillery and have a little look around.

Great places to drink whisky - Japan

Japan is arguably the home of the whisky bar. There are huge amounts of them all over the place, particularly in Tokyo. Consequently, when my girlfriend and I decided go on holiday to Japan, I immediately began looking into what whisky bars I could drag her along to and spend stupid amounts of money in.

Have just tried - Yamazaki Bourbon Barrel

Using the government’s alcohol duty rise as a pathetic excuse to buy some more whisky (I persuaded myself I’d be saving money in the long run if I bought a few bottles before the rise!) I decided to purchase a whisky I’d had my eye on for a while. The Yamazaki Bourbon Barrel represents the latest in a number of limited whiskies Suntory release every now and then that, to date, have included heavily peated and sherry puncheon matured expressions.

Located at the foot of a mountain in a bamboo forest just outside Japan’s ancient capital Kyoto, Yamazaki distillery was founded by Shinjiro Torii in 1923. It was his ambition to make a Japanese whisky along the same lines as the Scottish whiskies that were very popular at the time. To this end he despatched his able assistant Masataka Taketsuru to Scotland to learn everything there is to know about making Scotch whisky.

Taketsuru’s time in Scotland makes for an amazing story. In 1918 he turned up alone in Scotland, determined to learn the art of brewing and distilling. A very brave thing to do at a time when people travelled such shorter distances than they do now. Britain must have seemed like a completely different world to him. He enrolled at Glasgow University and at one point travelled up to Elgin in the hope for learning first hand the skills needed for Suntory to start distilling whisky. It was at Longmorn distillery that he found someone willing to take him on and show him the ropes. His course at Glasgow also enabled him to work at Hazelburn distillery in Campbeltown. During all this he also found time to fall in love and get hitched to his landlady's daughter.

Job done, on returning to Japan with his new wife, Taketsuru’s newfound skills and knowledge were instrumental in founding Yamazaki - Japans first single malt distillery. Soon afterwards, he left Suntory to start Japan’s other major whisky company, Nikka.

This Yamazaki was released in 2011 along side a Bourbon Barrel matured expression from its sister distillery Hakushu and is bottled at a generous 48.5% from first fill bourbon barrels.

Our tasting notes
On first nosing there are lots of cereal notes - shredded wheat, malting floors, Japanese tea, mashed potatoes, Rusks. Along side all this there’s also a nice sweet citrus fruit aroma lending a nice balance, a bit like lime cordial and chocolate limes. After a while it gets fruitier and sweeter with a little breathing with aromas of apples, pears, bananas, cherries, refresher sweets, custard powder and milk chocolate.

On the palate, there’s some lovely big first fill bourbon barrel flavours. Starting with some sweet and fruity flavours - Banoffee pie, white chocolate, bubblegum, Belgian tripel beer. The palate gradually gets a little more bitter, oaky and hot with pepper and cloves. The finish is long and tannic with a nice bittersweet blackberry note. Excellently balanced. Lots of estery flavours of fruits and sweet things balanced by an equally large dollop of drying austerity from the oak.

What’s the verdict?
Well, I wasn’t disappointed with my purchase. It’s nearest to the 12-Year-old expression out of the three standard releases but much more complex and intense. An excellently balanced whisky full of character and flavour. As far as I know it is just available in Europe and Japan. It is limited to just 3000 bottles throughout Europe, 1000 of which are for the U.K. You can get if for around £65.

New releases > Chichibu 'The First'

The youngest distillery in Japan has released its first single malt, named The First. Chichibu (pronounced chich-e-boo) started production in 2008 and was the first new distillery to be built in Japan since the 1970s. The distillery was the brainchild of Ichiro Akuto, a legendary figure in the Japanese whisky industry. It is located in the town of Chichibu, which is around 80km to the north west of Tokyo. The distillery has a number of interesting features, including rare washback tanks made from Japanese oak.

This three years old single malt is the first official whisky from Chichibu and follows on from two releases of new make spirit (one very young heavily peated version and one older non-peated version) . The First is constructed from just 31 specially selected ex-bourbon casks, which have yielded 7,400 bottles at a cask strength of 61.8% ABV. These will be sold through selected specialist whisky retailers in Japan, the UK and France for £90/€115 per bottle. The product was launched at Whisky Live in Paris at the end of September and in Japan on 10 October.

Our tasting notes
The colour of The First is a bright golden yellow and the nose is fresh and full of immediate vanilla and honey aromas.  Then comes some spicy oak notes, which are reminiscent of pencil shavings mixed with a pinch of nutmeg and ginger.  The nose is obviously sweet and has other delicious aromas which develop with time - think of vanilla custard, green apples and a hint of lemon zest.  On the palate, this replicates the gorgeous concentration of notes from the nose - especially the vanilla, honey and wood spices.  It feels creamy and a little oily with a pleasant softness that belies its high alcoholic strength.  The only hint of the 61.8% ABV is a bit of peppery heat burn in the background.  Lovely notes of coconut and dried mango come through also.  The overall feeling is surprisingly delicate.  The finish begins sweetly with the honey note prominent, before becoming drier with plenty of woody oak spice.  The addition of water accentuates the vanilla and makes the palate even creamier, without any of the peppery burn.

What's the verdict?
The friend that we were tasting this with commented almost immediately, "how can this only be three years old?" We have to agree - this is so gorgeously delicious, complex, developed and balanced (even at 61.8% ABV) that it deserves to be sampled by all whisky lovers.  If the results are this amazing at this point in time, you have to ask the question - how good are the next and older releases of this single malt going to be?  There is a new whisky on the block - it's name is Chichibu and it has arrived with a bang.

Have just tried ... Hanyu 21 years old 'Big Butt'

Hanyu is a Japanese whisky distillery that is no longer in production. The Tao Shuzo Company, who ran Hanyu, went bankrupt in 2000 and the distillery was dismantled in 2004. It was located in the town of Hanyu, to the north of Tokyo, and was founded in 1946 by Isouji Akuto. Akuto was the 19th generation of a famous sake producing family, who had originally started distilling sake in the 1690s. Hanyu produced sake until 1980, when the decision was made to start making single malt whisky in the Scottish style. This followed a boom in the whisky industry in Japan and in drinking imported Scottish and Irish whiskies.

Rise from the ashes
The success of Hanyu was relatively short lived, as financial problems began to surface in the late 1980s. The boom of the 1970s and early 80s was followed by a spectacular crash in the Japanese whisky industry, as cheaper imported whisky flooded the market. In 2004, Ichiro Akuto purchased approximately 400 casks of Hanyu whisky that were destined to be destroyed as part of the distillery's demolition. Ichiro is the grandson of the original founder of Hanyu, Isouji Akuto, and he subsequently established his own company called Venture Whisky. They have been bottling these rescued Hanyu whiskies since 2005 in a number of guises, including the award winning Ichiro's Malts series which are all named after different playing cards. Akuto has also founded Chichibu, Japan's newest whisky distillery, and it distilled its first whisky in 2008.

Interesting labels!
Big Butt is part of a limited series of single cask malts that have animated characters on the label, all with a buttock related theme. This one shows a sumo wrestler's backside (Big Butt ... do you get it?) and another one is Full Proof (pictured, left), which shows a Japanese girl in a skimpy, cheeky short skirt. This Hanyu Big Butt was distilled in 1988 and bottled at 21 years of age in 2009. There were only 200 bottles released, so we were very grateful to receive a small sample and try this rare dram from a distillery that we have not tried before. It has been matured in a large sherry cask (these are called butts, so we have another butt reference!) and is bottled at 54% ABV. These whiskies are bottled for the European market and cost €140 a bottle.

Our tasting notes
The colour of Big Butt 21 years old is a dark golden amber and the nose is intense and rich, with plenty of potent aromas coming through - toasted almonds, dried fruits (think of raisins, prunes and candied orange peel), brown sugar, cereal grains, dark polished wood, a whiff of sulphuric coal smoke and an extraordinary, almost overpowering smell of burnt popcorn. On the palate, this seems stronger than its 54% ABV and the alcoholic burn is slightly off putting. However, once this dies then other characteristics are allowed to develop. Initially, this offers some burnt sugar, slightly bitter cereal grains and lots of woody oak. These are balanced by some sweeter elements such as the dried fruits (the raisins and orange peel are particularly prominent), nuts (think of hazelnuts and almonds) and crumbly brown sugar. It coats your mouth and is rich and intense in nature. That sulphur smoke from the nose returns along with a ginger note. The finish is relatively short considering the richness of the whisky. It is woody and dry with the burnt sugar and popcorn taking over. The addition of water makes Big Butt a little easier to drink. Some of the initial bitterness is taken away and it becomes creamier and sweeter (imagine toffee or butterscotch) on the palate.

What's the verdict?
It is always interesting when you try a whisky from a distillery that you have not tasted before, and this is no different. Big Butt is intense and expressive with a number of unusual characteristics (especially the burnt popcorn note throughout). This comes across as a 'difficult' whisky and it is not the easiest to drink, especially straight. However, given time and a touch of water the elements start to loosen up but it still feels a little awkward. A very interesting dram that is unlike anything else that we have tasted to date.

Have just tried ... Yamazaki 18 years old

Japan's oldest whisky producer
The story of the Yamazaki distillery is essentially the story of the whisky industry in Japan. Yamazaki is the country’s oldest and first whisky distillery. Shinjiro Torri was the Japanese whisky industry's pioneer and founder. His idea was to found a distillery and corner the potential market for whisky sales in Japan in 1923. The distillery is located in the rural village of Yamazaki, which lies between the cities of Osaka and Kyoto. The current distillery has a capacity of seven million litres per year, making it one of the largest whisky distilleries in the world and beating most in Scotland. It also has the busiest visitor centre of all Japanese distilleries and this includes a bar that contains over 120 different Yamazaki whiskies of differing ages and cask types!

The birth of Suntory
Shinjiro Torri's Kotobukiya Company funded the building of Yamazaki and production started in 1924. Masetaka Taketsuru, who was Torri's protégé and the man who had visited Scotland to learn production techniques and traditions, was appointed as distillery manager. Kotobukiya changed its name to Suntory in 1929, with the new name being derived from Torri-san, the Japanese title of Shinjiro Torri. The first whisky, a blend of their single malt and grain whiskies, was released in 1932. Interestingly, this blend also included some imported single malt from Scotland. Shortly afterwards, Taketsuru left to start Yoichi, which started production in 1934. The first purely single malt whisky from Yamazaki (the 12 years old) was not released until 1984 and was followed by this 18 years old in 1994. The core range also currently includes the popular 10 years old and these are joined by occasional limited releases.

For further information and history of Yamazaki and other Japanese distilleries, please visit the Japanese section of our website - whiskyforeveryone.com.

Our tasting notes
The Yamazaki 18 years old has started to pick up awards around the world in the last two years and should cost approximately £70 a bottle. This whisky has been matured in a complex mixture of casks including ex-bourbon, ex-sherry and Japanese mizunara oak. The colour is deep amber and the nose is rich, expressive and very tempting. It is full of dried fruits (imagine raisins, sultanas and dried apple), burnt dark sugar/caramel, malty cereal grains and an almost overwhelming but very pleasant citrus note (think of candied peel or orange marmalade). On the palate, the richness is joined by more sweetness than the nose suggests and has a complex mix of notes - distinctive citrus peel (oranges again), dried fruits (sultanas especially), lots of cereal grain, vanilla, caramel, oak and woody spiciness (this is quite bark-like, think of cinnamon). The finish is long, soft and enjoyable with the orange citrus notes, caramel and grains particularly prominent. There is maybe just a hint of some peat smoke in the background also and this seems slightly musty and mossy.

What's the verdict?
Yamazaki 18 years old is a top quality dram. We have sampled it on a number of occasions now, and it seems to be better than we remembered each time. The whisky demonstrates the interesting products that are currently coming out of Japan and it is easy to see why this continues wins multiple awards. The balance between sweetness, richness and spiciness is very good and creates an excellent, complex dram that allows you to discover new aromas and flavours each time you drink some.

New releases ... Hibiki 12 years old

The Hibiki are a series of blended whiskies from the Japanese company Suntory. They rose to prominence in 2008 when the 30 years old version won the 'Best Blended Whisky' category at the World Whisky Awards - the first time that a Japanese whisky had won such a prestigious prize. Suntory own two whisky distilleries in Japan - Yamazaki (Japan's oldest founded in 1923) and Hakushu, which was founded during the 1970s. The Hibiki are blends of single malts and grain whisky from these two distilleries and are released with minimum ages of 17 and 30 years. The 12 years old is a new addition to the range and has just been released in Europe, with London staged the official launch. Hibiki means 'harmony' in Japanese.

The first thing to note with the Hibiki series is the extraordinary bottle. It is a great mix of a whisky decanter and 1970s retro design. The 17 and 30 years old in the series are multi award winning whiskies so the 12 years old has a lot to live up to! Both are dark with sherry cask influence, but this is much lighter and fresher. The colour is a golden amber and the nose is very promising. It is fragrant with a fruitiness that is fresh rather than dried fruit (think of stone fruits like cherries and plums). There is vanilla and sweetness (think of honey) prominent also, with a hint of a peppery spiciness (imagine ground white pepper). The palate is refreshing, cleansing and mellow with lots of those fresh juicy fruit notes present (especially the plums) and these are underpinned by a soft barley sweetness. It has a crisp, short finish with that peppery spice coming through. It makes your mouth water and makes you want to drink some more!

The Hibiki 12 years old is a promising and very smooth whisky that we later discovered was partly matured in a Japanese plum liqueur cask (the liqueur is called Umeshu). This explains that fresh plumy fruitiness that is present. It would be a great one to introduce someone to whisky as it is light, refreshing and has interesting, almost unique, characteristics. This is available in specialist whisky retailers and some Japanese supermarkets and should cost £45-50 for bottle.

In the whisky cupboard ... Nikka 'Whisky From The Barrel'

Nikka are one of the biggest producers of single malt whisky in Japan. It is a company that forms part of the massive Asahi Brewery Company and they own two distilleries - Miyagikyo and Yoichi. Miyagikyo is located on the eastern coast of Japan's main island of Honshu to the north of Tokyo and Yoichi can be found on the western side of the northern island of Hokkaido. This 'Whisky From The Barrel' forms part of a series of vatted whiskies that are released by Nikka. Vatted whiskies are produced using single malts that are mixed together. These single malts may be of differing ages and from different distilleries. They are similar to blended whiskies in this respect, but blends include whisky made from other grains. Vatted whiskies only include single malt whisky produced from malted barley. In this case, Nikka have used different ages of single malt from both Miyagikyo and Yoichi and married them together over time. The 'Whisky From The Barrel' is a multi award winning whisky, including scooping the Best Japanese Blended/Vatted Whisky prize at The World Whisky Awards 2007.

This bottle was received recently as a present and has been exclusively labelled for La Maison du Whisky shop in Paris. It is bottled at cask strength (51.4% ABV) and the colour is a golden orange brown with a very pleasant nose. There is plenty of sherry cask influence here with lots of dried fruits (think of raisins and sultanas), candied peel (especially orange), some malted barley (imagine a rustic loaf of bread) and something reminiscent of dark chocolate or espresso coffee. These characteristics are replicated on the palate. It is rich and succulent with a lovely level of sweetness and a touch of spiciness (think of nutmeg or cinammon). This whisky is deceptive and certainly does not taste or feel like cask strength. That could be dangerous on future evenings! With a drop of water, a sugary sweetness appears (imagine caramel) and the candied orange peel springs to life even more. The finish is long, fruity and sumptuous.

'Whisky From The Barrel' is an excellent whisky and one of the best blended or vatted whiskies that I have tried to date. If you have tried the Hibiki 17 years old blend from other Japanese powerhouse whisky company, Suntory, then this is in the same vein (although considerably cheaper!). A great example of how the use of quality sherry casks can influence whisky during maturation. It is still relatively difficult to find but distribution is improving to Europe and the UK. A 500ml bottle should cost £20-25 from selected independent whisky retailers.