3 New Japanese Whisky Discoveries

A few days ago I was working at a tasting event at one of the bigger wine and spirit shops in Zurich . To put it clear right away I was responsible for the less glamorous tasks like checking coats, clear the glasses etc.

When I was looking for a whisky related part time job last summer I applied at most whisky shops in Zurich and that wine and spirits store was one of them. They couldn't offer me a job however they told me that I could work at events that they organise once a month. At those events people pay a certain amount to enter and afterwards they can taste out of up to 50 different wines or spirits depending on the topic. 

Although my task isn't too glamorous I genuinely enjoy working there because I met some great people and  I can use the few bucks that I earn to buy whisky. Also I sometimes get the chance to get a little taste of some of the presented beverages.  That was exactly the case when I recently worked at a tasting with the topic "Japan". The beverages that were offered on this evening were Sake, Japanese beer and Japanese whisky.

In this article I want to present you the three whiskies that I was lucky enough to taste. It was quite busy and noisy so I didn't get the chance to take tasting notes. However I still want to tell you a little bit about the 3 drams.

1) Togouchi 12 years old Blended Whisky, 46% ABV: 

This one is a really interesting whisky and I had to do a little research because I couldn't find an official website. It is produced by the Chugoku Jozo Distillery which is in fact not a real whisky distillery but a producer of sake and shochu and also operates as a bottling and blending company for whisky and is located near the city of Hiroshima. The company imports their newmake grain whisky from Canada and their newmake malt whisky from Scotland and matures them in ex-sherry and ex-brandy casks. Their warehouse is very special too because they mature their whisky in an abandoned railway tunnel. The blend is made up of 60% grain and 40% malt whisky. For all my German speaking readers I can kindly recommend this article by eye for spirits.

2) Nikka Pure Malt Taketsuru 17 years old, 43% ABV:

This was a fantastic dram. The Taketsuru 17 is a blended malt (or as it was also called a vatted malt) which means that it contains exclusively malt and no grain whisky but from different distilleries which are in this case Yoichi and Myagikyo. It is matured in ex-sherry casks and has some really nice fruity notes with a subtle smokiness. It is named after Masataka Taketsuru who is known as the father of Japanese whisky and the founder of Nikka. I will maybe write an article about Japanese whisky where I give you more information about him.

3) The Glover 14 years old by Adelphi, 44.3% ABV: The Glover is a very unique whisky that was first presented in late October last year. It is a blended malt by independent bottler Adelphi and contains both Scotch and Japanese whisky. It is named after Thomas Blake Glover who is also known as the Scottish Samurai. Glover travelled to Japan in the 19th century to work for the British tradehouse and was a key figure in the Japanese  industrialisation. 

The 14 years old is limited to 1500 bottles which were sold out pretty quickly so I am very pleased that I got a taste of this one. There is also a 22 years old which contains whisky from the closed Hanyu distillery, Longmorn and Glen Garioch. They didn't say what's in the 14 years old however which I think is a pity because it would have been really interesting to know.

I am really glad that I had the chance to try these 3 special drams. The outstanding of the lot was in my opinion the Taketsuru 17. 

Slàinte everyone, U