Trip to Japan – Yamazaki distillery
Visiting Japan has been an old dream of mine and my wife’s too (she studied Japanese and she loves all things Japanese). Since I started to get more and more into whisky and started looking into Japanese whisky as well, this urge to visit Japan got stronger and stronger. So we finally made it to Osaka, Japan, just in time to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary!
We opted for the Kansai area, since this area is widely considered more traditional, as opposed to the more cosmopolitan areas like Tokyo. Of course, the fact that the Yamazaki distillery is very close to Osaka, just a stone throw south east from Kyoto (awesome city!), had a big influence. Also we wanted to see Kyoto, Nara and Kobe (well known for the origin of the Kobe beef).
About Japanese whisky
As some of you already know, Japanese whisky is greatly influenced by the ways of the Scottish whisky is made. This is, of course, because the forefather of the Japanese whisky, Masataka Taketsuru, who studied the intricate whisky-making process in Scotland. After he finished his apprenticeship, he brought this knowledge back to Japan and established one of the most popular Japanese Whisky companies: Nikka Whisky. The rival company of Nikka is Suntory, established by Shinjiro Torii (which owns Yamazaki), these are the main players in the Japanese whisky market (other players are: Chichibu Distillery, Venture Whisky, Ltd., FLAVIAR, Louisville Distilling Co. LLC, Asahi Breweries Ltd., Jf Hillebrand Japan Kk, Hombo Shuzo Co Ltd, and Yoshino Spirits).
This is why Japanese whisky is similar to scotch. They rely heavily on malted barley (sometimes peated) and then mashed and distilled twice in pot stills or column stills. Aging is done in ex-bourbon barrels, sherry casks or Mizunara oak casks.
Although scotch and Japanese whisky making process is very similar, there are slight differences as well (as you might expect). For instance local factors come into play. Like the water used in Japan is much more mild than the water available in Scotland. Also, the temperature variation is higher in Japan, even in a month time span, this greatly influences the cask maturation.
There are other differences as well. For instance, Japanese distilleries put more emphasis on blended whiskies (see the Hibiki range) as opposed to Scottish distilleries which are focused more on single malts.
Another important factor is regulation. While scotch is highly regulated with strict rules on almost every step, for Japanese whisky things get a little more hazy. What do I mean? Well, for instance it is not mandatory for a Japanese whisky to be produced in Japan for instance (shocking, I know).
And then come the knock-offs. I’ve had my share of fake Hibikis, which I’ve identified in shops in Osaka (thanks to my Japanese friend that pointed them out), you must be careful and buy only from trusted sources, or, if you really want to buy that good bargain priced bottle, then you really must know your how to spot a fake and not get scammed. This is because there are a lot of fake bottlings imported from China, which is a shame, because this kind of creates a bat rep for Japanese whisky (to some extent).
Yamazaki distillery visit
The distillery tour was very nice and detailed, they took us from the malt to the bottling.
Here the wash produced during the fermentation is now transferred to pot stills to undergo the distillation process twice, which results in a liquid with high alcohol concentration called “new make”. At Suntory, they select from among a variety of pot stills in different shapes and sizes depending on on the distinctive flavors they want to bring out in the whiskies.
And here is a “new make” sample as a result of the distillation process.
They also explained the coopering process and detailed the different sizes of casks available, from quater casks, octaves all the way up to the hedge hog.
And of course we went for a visit down to the warehouse, where we got to see the fully filled whisky casks, just aging away.
And here is my happy kid face surrounded by all that whisky :-))
We also had a whisky tasting at the distillery, paired with some funky desserts and nuts.
And of course, we just could not miss the visit to the main bar, here we got to try a bunch of whiskies, at very affordable prices!
And what a great time we had! Lots of fun and truly great drams. We got to taste (among other things) the Yamazaki 25yo, Hakushu 25yo and the Hibiki 30yo. Awesome times!
The way to the bar was paved with an awesome display of special whisky bottlings (of course), the Yamazaki Whisky library!
All in all, we had a great time visiting the distillery. I would go back there anytime. After this visit, I can say that I like Japanese whisky even more.
What is your favorite Japanese whisky? Kanpai!
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Andrei Muresan
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