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 […]

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 […]

  Nose: honey and light sherry notes. Palate: light wood that becomes more strong with time, peat? Sharp, numbing. Not fruity. Not very enjoyable. Finish: short, spicy, sour. The “sharpness” of the flavors was like warm knives touching my tongue, a little numb, it’s ok. […]

This is a commemorative bottling for the 5th anniversary of Shinanoya, a famous food and liquor shop/distributor in Japan. This is the sister label to Karuizawa 16 year cask 5006. The labels depict screen door painting “Lion and Tiger” by 18th century Japanese painter Soga […]

From the, in my opinion, strange looking The School of Malt, Dave Broom labels. Dave Broom is the author of “Whisky: A User’s Guide” and also writes/reviews for a variety of outlets, such as Whisky Advocate [he also wrote The Way of Whisky: A Journey […]

Kawasaki is considered the sister distillery to Karuizawa and produced grain whiskies with a supposedly 90% corn mashbill. Unfortunately, times were rough and the distillery closed because the new owners (Kirin) weren’t interested in whisky (but now they produce both malt and grain whiskies at […]

Karuizawa is considered the top Japanese whisky brand, well because it tastes good. The typical “lost distillery” story: bad times came upon the distillery, distillery gets acquired by a company that isn’t interested in whisky production, another party comes in and buys all the old […]