For many of us, the first thing we visualize when it comes to whisky is the design of our favorite bottle. Bottles that sit on modern bar shelves must capture the attention of drinkers with an increasingly dizzying array of options. Higher end whiskies of […]

The shortage of major Japanese whiskies continues. The latest word around town is that Suntory and Nikka are planning to temporarily suspend or discontinue several more of their popular whiskies at the end of March. This is in addition to the already revealed discontinuation of […]

Medicinal liqueur maker Yomeishu is getting into craft spirits with the upcoming release of two craft gins and a gin-based liqueur. All three of them lean on Kuromoji, or Lindera umbellata, as a botanical. Their chief product of the same name, Yomeishu, is probably Japan’s […]

Kagoshima’s Kanosuke Distillery has just launched its own cask ownership program, and they are currently looking for 30 people to pony up 300,000 yen apiece to be part of the action. The casks are 28L French Oak sherry casks with a medium char, and will contain […]

  This controversial and somewhat mysterious whisky is supposedly Chichibu distillate, purchased by Akkeshi, who shipped it to Scotland to be matured in a 1969 ex-Glenrothes cask (cask 1 of 2). Rumors are abound that cask 2 is another old Glenrothes cask or ancient Bowmore. […]

The new brand of whisky by Suntory is called Suntory World Whisky Ao. As you may have guessed from the name it’s a blend of whiskies from the world’s five big whisky regions: Scotland, Ireland, USA, Canada, and Japan. They have not told us exactly […]

Hibiki Blender’s Choice was probably the most controversial Japanese whisky of 2018. For many, it’s yet another manifestation of the sad reality of Japanese whisky these days. To explain the background a bit for those who may have missed the trend, Japan’s biggest whisky producers–including […]

Hombo Shuzo is the latest big name to announce a distillery expansion to meet rising demand for Japanese whisky. Nikkei reports that they will be investing some 1.2bio yen in the Mars Shinshu Distillery, with construction of a new 1998 square meter distillation facility and […]

A very special 2017 bottling for the infamous Mash Tun Bar in Tokyo, a blend of approximately 70% Hanyu 1991 and approximately 30% Kawasaki 1982. Wonder what the cask number is for. Supposedly many of the Mash Tun bottles have a cat on the label […]

Remember these? The most exhaustive Japanese-language resource on the web for Japanese whisky is the aptly-named Japanese Whisky Database wiki. Though a bit tough to navigate at times, the site features a listing of essentially the entire history of Japanese whisky in Japan. That’s every […]