The writing was on the wall for The Nikka 12 since early this year, with the company filing a trademark application for a whisky called “The Nikka Tailored.” I took a guess at the time that it probably meant the demise of The Nikka 12. […]

Just yesterday Hokuriku-based Wakatsuru Saburomaru Distillery released “Junenmyo Half Decade” specifically for their home region, Hokuriku. Per their announcement it contains “selected whiskies from several barrels aged over 5 years old.” Assuming it contains whisky actually distilled at the Saburomaru Distillery, that would be from […]

Here it is. One of the first whiskies from the notorious Matsui Shuzo that is–allegedly–actual Japanese whisky! I wrote a whole lot of words about Matsui Shuzo’s phantom Kurayoshi Distillery last year. To briefly summarize: they have historically been pretty deceptive and confrontational, and tend […]

French whisky megastore Le Maison du Whisky has picked up an exclusive bottling of blended Mars Whisky, and they have named it “Kasei.” Kasei is of course Japanese for Mars. It’s a relatively affordable 36 euro, but limited to two bottles per customer. They describe […]

In November of last year, Japan business daily Nikkei revealed that Kirin intended to make an investment to increase their whisky production capacity at the Fuji Gotemba Distillery. We now have an official announcement from Kirin themselves to the same effect. They plan to upgrade […]

It looks like Okinawan bitters will soon be another bottle that bartenders can add to their arsenal. Okinawa’s second-oldest awamori distillery, Mizuho Shuzo, has announced the launch of “Craft Bitters Citrus” on February 14. Okinawa Times reports that it uses Okinawan lemongrass as well as […]

The world now has its first officially Vegan sake, coming from Iwate Prefecture’s Nambu Bijin. By nature, pretty much all sake is probably Vegan anyway, since it’s generally only made from koji, rice, and water. But actually obtaining certification as a Vegan product is a […]

So the big announcement this week is the launch of the Japan Pisco Association. And they have launched just in time for Pisco Sour Day, celebrated the first Saturday of February. This year it falls on February 2. At the moment, pisco unfortunately isn’t a […]

Another stealth release out of the Kyoto Distillery: Ki No Bi Edition G, aged in ex-Henri Giraud Champagne Barrels. Seems that the idea came out of a recent visit by Claude Giraud, 12th generation winemaker at the Champagne house of Henri Giraud, to the Kyoto […]

Crowd favorite Johnnie Walker Blue Label is getting a Japan-only version named simply “Johnnie Walker Blue Label Japan Limited Edition 2019.” Similar to how we got that Japan-only Jameson last year, this version of Blue Label has the same liquid as always but has some […]