Japanese whisky has been enjoying a huge surge in popularity in recent years, with distilleries like Yamazaki, Hakushu and many more enjoying cult success amongst international whisky lovers. Domestically, whisky is also hugely popular, thanks to the Japanese fondness for Highballs (whisky and soda), among other reasons.
1. Japanese whisky is relatively young compared to Scotch
Believe it or not, Japanese whisky has only been around for less than a 100 years. It all started when a man called Masataka Taketsuru (who would later go on to found Nikka) went to Scotland in 1919 to study organic chemistry, and later went on to apprentice in several Scotch distilleries, including Longmorn and Hazelburn.
When he returned to Japan, he went to work at Kotobukiya (which was later renamed Suntory) and helped its founder, Shinjiro Torii build Japan’s first malt whisky distillery, Yamazaki Distillery, in 1923.
To put that in perspective, Glenturret, which is considered the oldest whisky distillery in Scotland, was established in 1775, almost 245 years ago!
2. Japanese whisky is intricately connected to Scotch
Speaking of the Scottish connection, Japanese whisky is hugely influenced by the Scotch industry. For instance, this also true about the name, which usually also omits the ‘e’.
The methods of making Japanese whisky also mostly follow that of Scotch whisky – Taketsuru had been trained in Scotland after all, and most distilleries in Japan are designed to replicate the whisky-making conditions in Scotland.
3. Japanese drink more blended whisky than single malts
Today, there are quite a few more Japanese whisky distilleries in operation. However, not all of these distilleries bottle single malt. In fact, the most popular category of whisky in Japan is actually blended whisky, which is usually drunk in the form of the hugely popular highball.
The Highball trend, and also the recent surge in interest in Japanese whiskies, both domestically and globally, has caused a shortage of supply in Japan in recent times.
4. Japanese distilleries don’t trade whiskies with each other
Unlike the Scotch industry, where trading of barrels is common in order to create blends, Japanese distilleries are highly competitive and don’t trade with one another. The increasing demand for Japanese whiskies has also contributed to dwindling stocks, which has forced Japanese producers to guard their own stocks even more fiercely.
So how do distilleries create new Japanese whisky blends and flavours? Some do this by having different-shaped stills in one single distillery, using different maturation processes, using different wood for their barrels (including Japanese oak called Mizunara), and even sourcing whiskies from outside Japan. Which brings us to…
5. Some Japanese blended whiskies have whiskies that are not made in Japan
Unlike Scotland, there are no strict laws governing the production of Japanese whisky. With the high demand of whiskies in both the domestic and international markets, some producers have come up with ‘world blended’ whiskies that blends Japanese whisky produced domestically with others imported from other countries, including Scotland, Ireland, Canada and the US.