Home | Arts | Paintings
Japanese whisky has recently experienced a massive upsurge in popularity, with a number of superlative expressions on the market. Despite their recent rise to power, the Japanese have actually been producing whisky for a number of years, having first begun around the year 1870. The market for Japanese whisky is now huge and their success was marked in 2008 with the World Whiskies Awards. To the amazement of the world, the Japanese were awarded the coveted title for best single malt whisky in the world. The world's best whisky was the delectable Yoichi 20 Year Old. The Japanese whisky industry was born of two men; Shinjiro Torii and Masataka Taketsuru. The former founded the famed Suntory, now a global brand. One of the best known whiskies from Suntory is Hibiki. A blend of malt and grain whisky from Suntory's three distilleries in Japan. Hibiki 17 Year Old is a superlative example of the brand, the name is Japanese for harmony ? apt considering the superb balance of toffee and fruit, a little cherry and citrus. Suntory Hibiki was made famous in 2003 movie Lost in Translation, in which Bill Murray plays an actor filming a commercial for said Japanese whisky. Masataka Taketsuru founded Nikka, producers of the excellent Yoichi 20. Masataka made a whisky pilgrimage to Scotland in 1918, where he learnt the craft of single malt whisky. One of their innovative expressions was the Single Coffey Malt. A 12 year old whisky, the Coffey Malt is distilled in a Coffey still ? a continuous still. This is not, therefore, a single malt (which must be produced in a pot still). The result is a rare release of very characterful Japanese whisky with notes of vanilla and nutty bourbon, a little espresso and dried fruit. Masataka was celebrated with a superb whisky named after him. Taketsuru 17 Year Old is a delightful blended malt whisky. Blended malt is the product of malt whisky from multiple distilleries. This classic Nikka dram is a balanced affair with notes of honey, oak and vanilla on the nose with a floral, fruity palate. Our last Japanese whisky was created by the Suntory brand. It was distilled in their first distillery, Yamazaki. Yamazaki 12 Year Old was the first seriously marketed Japanese whisky, with a nutty and floral nose and notes of sweet spice and fruit salad on the palate. Japanese whisky bears much in common with Scotch, the terroir is very similar as are the production techniques. All of the above are available from the online whisky store Master of Malt.
Article Source: http://www.casinoarticlessite.com
Tania Gannaway has been tasting whisky fro over 20 years. One of his favourites at the moment is Tomatin Whisky, a single cask single malt whisky.
Please Rate this Article
5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5
Not yet Rated
