Full disclosure: in the span of writing this site, I’ve sat down and hacked away at about four different versions of Japanese whisky articles and realized each time that it’s difficult to hit a good middle ground between being informative without writing a book, yet realizing that punchy insight might only be possible if I’ve built a good foundation for you to pick up what I’m throwing down.
Ironically, those struggles are fitting for Japanese whisky, as the product category all about nuance and balance. So maybe we’ll talk about that, first.
WHAT ARE THEY TRYING TO DO?
I remember somewhere around 2005 when Japanese whisky started to develop a buzz. You could walk into a BevMo and get a bottle of the well-regarded Yamazaki 12 or Hibiki 12 for the same price as a regular ‘ol scotch, which at that time was about $40.
The attraction to Japanese whisky lies entirely in its refinement. As a friend of mine says, the Japanese aren’t generally known for inventing things out of the blue, but they are known for perfecting. So it is here. A number of Japanese distillers went to Scotland, became well-versed in scotch production, and returned home to apply what they learned to the craft. There are some pretty good stories about this, for anyone who wants to fall down the rabbit hole a little.
If I was to summarize the “thing” about Japanese whisky, it’s that the makers of renown want you to be able to taste the quality of their efforts without a lot of crazy bullshit. You’re not going to find triple cask aging or peat smoke intended to dial things up to eleven or whisky that tastes like peanut butter. You’re not going to find true Japanese whiskies that are too sweet or over-oaked. You won’t get some oddball experiment that would be the whisky equivalent of how Sutter Home created white Zinfandel, everyone’s love-to-hate it trash wine, purely by accident.
Instead, what’s in the bottle is always a steady nod to hundreds of years of tradition. It’s exciting because the makers have faith in what they produce. They aren’t constantly trying to shake up the market or put out “the next big thing” to lure some new demographic that otherwise wouldn’t give a shit.
What made it gonzo expensive?
I would guess what kept Japanese whisky from being more widely consumed and widely appreciated (at least here in the United States) was probably a decent helping of low-grade racism up through the end of the 1990s.
Let me pause here for a minute. I know a few old guys who really, really hate anything foreign made. Maybe there’s some carry-over from knowing a generation (or hell, being a part of the generation) that fought the Japanese during World War II. The same kinds of people who told themselves there was no way in hell they were ever going to own a Toyota were probably the same kinds of consumers that stuck with a “name brand” scotch like Cutty, J&B, or Johnnie Walker, keeping Japanese whisky from being anything other than a low murmur prior to the twenty-first century.
Over my dead body!
I can’t pinpoint when the shift happened, but I do remember the period of transition. I think Japanese whisky finally began to join in the reindeer games in the early 2000s. It was then when whisky had a whole “moment” spurred on by changing tastes and an emerging connoisseurship. When Mad Men got big everyone suddenly had an Old Fashioned in hand. And, as a matter of some consequence, Japanese whisky started winning awards. Suddenly we were in a boom market and Japanese whisky was super duper cool.
I mean, thanks to Jon Hamm, I guess.
The problem is that there are only so many traditional distilleries in Japan, and they were used to doing their own thing for a great number of years. Now, suddenly, you’ve got a whole mess of people clamoring for you to produce ten times what you’re used to. Increased whisky production, especially where it concerns products that need 12+ years of aging, is a slow and methodical ramp-up. It’s not like they can snap their fingers and “just make more” of something that needs more than a decade to sit around in a barrel.
Besides that, the process of whisky making has been subject throughout history to a boom-and-bust cycle. Everyone was drinking awesome scotch fifteen years ago when nobody cared about it. With few consumers knocking at the door, most distillers said, “Well, since nobody wants it, let’s just let the whisky keep aging, then.” Distillers the world over have learned from the hard times of the past and are careful not to grow or scale at a rate that’s unsustainable.
WHAT’S Tricky about the current market?
We now have a situation where demand for Japanese whisky greatly outstrips supply. The same thing is happening with bourbon and scotch, incidentally, but it’s especially pronounced with Japanese whisky.
On the supply side, the market has responded predictably: prices are raising, and the quality is dropping. With the brands you actually would want to drink, which includes any of the distilleries owned by Nikka or Suntory, you’re paying more for less. Most of Nikka’s whiskies have dropped an age statement indicating exactly how old they are. We drank up a lot of the good, well-aged shit back in the mid 2000s, so now what’s available of the award-winning distilleries is typically much younger, and therefore comparatively rougher and less refined on the palate.
But what’s even worse than the drop in quality of the whiskies I liked is the rush of absolutely dogshit products that rushed in to fill the vacuum of an “affordable” Japanese whisky.
I mean, these whiskies are bout as Japanese as this image.
I’ve reviewed one of these so far. Basically, a number of companies are buying scotch or Canadian whisky, then putting it in a barrel so it ages in Japan. You wouldn’t be able to tell that from the bottle, by the way! Every one of these packages looks like a fucking Hokusai painting with kanji and waves and shit. That’s by design. They can say it was “made” in Japan (even if it was never distilled there) so you’ll be more inclined to pay a price premium.
It also goes without saying that this stuff has zero provenance, and the quantity of single malt whisky is far, far lower (if included at all) in proportion to the young, shitty, bargain basement grain whisky most of these producers are using. I looked up “Japanese Whisky” at Total Wine, and almost everything they have is either horrendously overpriced for what you get, or it’s just fake-ass swill posturing as the real deal. I just recently ran across a remarkably informative graphic from a Japanese sommelier, and suffice it to say that most of what you’d find on a store shelf is fake. As of April 2021, Japanese law prohibits this crap from being called “Japanese whisky.” Instead, you’ll see phrases on the package like, “product of Japan,” or “Malt whisky,” accompanied by pandering samurai shit.
OKAY, SO HOW DO I NOT GET BURNED?
I’ve got some specific recommendations, don’t worry. But before we get into what I drink and enjoy, let me tell you straight: I don’t think the value proposition is there with the pricey stuff (certainly not any more), so a lot of these recommendations are going to be blended whiskies. Which, admittedly, I think the Japanese do very, very well!
Suntory Toki - A widely-available Japanese whisky, but a great way to get involved. Just a little sweet, just a little smoky, and very amenable to being mixed or poured over ice. I’ve gone through a few bottles of this in the past several years and I always appreciate it.
Nikka Coffey Grain - A real crowd pleaser, and in fact a spectacular way to get people into drinking whisky in general. Like the Toki, I’ve reviewed this before and it’s one of my favorites. Nutty, buttery, and delicious.
Akashi White Oak - One of my favorite Japanese blends, but not everyone seems to appreciate this. (*shrugs*) Expect some good woody flavor balanced by apple sweetness, licorice, and a little walnut. Price has stayed relatively affordable, since the Eigashima Shuzo distillery remains a relative unknown.
Nikka From the Barrel - Spectacular stuff. We couldn’t get this for the longest time because America had stupid rules about bottle sizes and labeling, which played hell with the 500mL size of the product, originally. Now we can get it in a 750mL size. If you want to taste cask strength Japanese whisky, this is your best bet. It’s pricey, but it’s still just on the cusp of “splurge” territory for me.
Ichiro’s Malt and Grain - Like the Nikka Coffey Grain, the Ichiro’s is buttery and full of vanilla, tropical fruit, and nutty secondary flavors. A great showcase blend to reveal how grain whisky (at its best) can support and enhance good malted whisky. You’ll also pay $90+ for a bottle.
Naturally, this list is not exclusive for what I’d consider “real” Japanese whisky that you don’t have to sell a kidney to afford. If you want to stray from these recommendations, however, I’d strongly, strongly caution you to read up on the history of the whisky and the distillery (if such information exists) to make sure you don’t get suckered. In general, Suntory and Nikka are your two most trustworthy brands of the big players. If you want to gamble on something outside of those banners, I’ll light a candle for you and pray you don’t end up with barely-aged Canadian whisky in a pretty box.
