Some of you may have already heard about Japanese whisky and how good it is. Not reinforcing the stereotype or anything, but Japan likes to achieve perfection when it comes to creating things, and Japanese whisky is no different.
The master distiller
Masataka Takestsuru is considered the father of Japanese whisky and he learned all about it in Scotland. He pursued Chemistry in the University of Glasgow and learned the process of distillation across several distilleries. He returned to Japan from the land of scotch and created his own distillery, Yamazaki and started producing Japanese whisky.
They are mostly blends
Japanese whiskies are mostly blended as they are more popular than single malts. Japanese breweries believe in the concept of harmony and balance, and blended whiskies give them just that.
Customized for highball drinking
The world likes its whisky neat or on ice. But the Japanese prefer drinking whisky with soda water. Apparently, if you can’t handle neat, this is a good way to consume whisky and the Japanese ones are custom-made for that.
Breweries don’t share stocks or casks
While the Japanese prefer blends over single malts, the reputed breweries make it a point to never share their stocks of whiskies or casks. So, their whiskies are mostly blends of spirits produced in the same distillery. Such purists, I tell you!
Brands are extremely competitive
In Japan, the rivalry between whisky makers runs deep. There’s tremendous competition and to ensure that they only use their spirits to blend, they utilize different yeast strains and barrel types. Talk about creativity.
