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#BEST JAPANESE WHISKEY LICENSE#

Here are some of the best Japanese whiskies you can find now, in both the true Japanese whisky and world whisky categories. “As the industry matures and the regulations are recognized, there will be less brands ‘faking it until they make it.’ It will be an evolution, a curve, until we reach a level of transparency all the way to the consumer.” After all, that’s all whisky fans are asking for, just to know what exactly is in the bottle, which seems like a pretty reasonable request. “Even though Japanese whisky is growing as a category, it is quite small compared to other global whisky categories,” he said. And Nikka, the other big producer, has updated its website to reflect which expressions can be called Japanese whisky and which are world whiskies.Įlliott firmly believes that these new standards will benefit the industry as a whole. To its credit, Suntory has been a supporter of the new regulations, even though the bottlings from its Yamazaki, Hakushu, and Chita distilleries already meet the qualifications of true Japanese whisky. Chichibu is another distillery that touts its “world blends,” which are a marriage of whisky from the same five countries as Ao. This is not to say that the practice of sourcing whisky from other countries to blend together is inherently a bad thing, but these rules will ensure more transparency by labeling this type of whisky as “world whisky.” Suntory has embraced this title with its Ao whisky, and the brand tells you exactly which distilleries the blend comes from on its website (Scotland, America, Canada, Ireland, and Japan). Get the latest intel on which bottles of booze are worth your hard-earned cash. It protects those who have invested in actual distilleries, stills and the like, as opposed to those who are only bottling in Japan and sourcing finished spirits from other countries.” “The new JSLMA regulations allow for a more level playing field for all producers. “Opportunistic companies who have benefited from the lack of regulation or enforceable definition of Japanese whisky will no longer be able to deceive a consumer into buying what they believe to be Japanese whisky,” wrote Elliott in an email. But since it technically meets the TTB definition of whiskey here in the US, it can be labeled as such (more about this later, because there are some good rice whiskies out there).

#BEST JAPANESE WHISKEY LICENSE#

They can also make “whisky” out of rice, which according to Elliott is really considered barrel-aged shochu in Japan and made under license for that category, not whisky. Producers can import whisky distilled anywhere in the world, bottle it in Japan, and call it Japanese whisky. The reason for this change is that up until now, that bottle of Japanese whisky you paid a premium for might not actually contain whisky made in Japan. When a Bottle of Costco Bourbon Is Something More.The Hands Down Best Booze to Drink Right Now.

The Hands-Down Best Single Malt Scotch to Drink.

Together, Suntory and Nikka control the lion’s share of the market. In 1934, Taketsuru opened his own distillery, Yoichi, now part of Nikka. It makes sense, given that Japan imported the talent and know-how directly from the Scots: In the early 20th century, Suntory founder Shinjiro Torii hired Masataka Taketsuru, a Japanese chemist who’d studied whisky production in Scotland, to open the Yamazaki distillery. Many of the best Japanese whiskies are silky-smooth and resemble the gentler, less peaty varieties of Scotch, particularly those produced in the Lowland and Speyside regions. “Back then, you could get a bottle of Yamazaki 12 for $25 now it’s a minimum of $100. “I was working at the Mandarin Oriental in Tokyo in 2010, and at that time, only the staff was really drinking Japanese whisky,” explains former Bar Moga beverage director and current restaurant consultant Frank Cisneros, the only Westerner to be granted a Japanese visa purely for bartending. Although Japanese whisky has been produced for nearly a century, it wasn’t until the Yamazaki Single Malt Sherry Cask 2013 took home the title of World’s Best Whiskey in 2015 that heads turned and attitudes changed-even in Japan. (And yes, you spell it without the “e”.) But until as recently as 2015, whiskey fans were much more likely to reach for a peaty Scotch or robust, caramel-y American bourbon for something special.

It’s hard to imagine a category of spirit more hyped by today’s cool-kid drinkers than Japanese whisky.