Rare and selected Japanese Whiskys and exclusive Whisky Rarities

The Japanese are the world champions in drinking whisky and the per capita consumption is much higher than in Europeans and Americans. Imported whisky from Scotland and Ireland was already in the late 18th century for the first time in Japan enjoyed, the still quite unknown distilled alcoholic beverage in the West was rare and expensive. At that time belonged whisky on the status icons of the Japanese upper class. Japanese whisky history and later production began in 1899 indirectly so that Shinjiro Torii, who later founded by Suntory, experiments with the cultivation and vinification of wine made. He was the founder and owner of the company Kotobukiya, a wine and spirits company (originally for Sake) in Osaka, which was later renamed Suntory and today produces world famous with Yamazaki, Hibiki Hakushu and Single Malt and Blended malt whiskys. In 1907, the akadama sweet wine hits the market and is a great success. Impressed by the results of the Japanese spirits Production dreams Torii of its own, original Japanese whisky - a distinctive, cultivated by master craftsmen product of Japanese nature. After he was successful with his akadama wine, he set himself the goal of producing a whisky which is harmonious with the traditional Japanese cuisine, he invested the entire family fortune and built the first distillery of Japan in 1923 in Yamazaki. With the construction of this distillery and the beginning of whisky production in Japan, the career of the second large whisky pioneer of Japanese whiskey history began which was more than 10 years still master of Yamazaki and learned his craft in Scotland - Masataka Taketsuru. Taketsuru founded in 1934 his own company in Yoichi and brought in 1940 under the name Nikka Whisky his first whisky on the Japanese market.
The Japanese distilleries are now known for the highest quality standards and use the latest scientific findings often in combination with old craft techniques. About half of the Japanese distilleries provides malt whisky ago and are able to produce a wide range of different forms of single malt, the rest is specialized in grain whisky. Japanese whisky producers follow in the produced by them strongly types the Scottish model, in contrast to the single malt Scotch are many Japanese single malts blends of different malts from the same or more distilleries, the so-called Pure Malt also distillates from Scottish distilleries are used. Blended whiskys contain, depending on grade between ten and forty percent Malts - the quality levels differ with Super Premium: in more than 10%: 40%, Premium: 35-40%, Special: 30%, First: more than 20% and Second Single Malt. The name Single Malt is like in Scotland for bottling from a single distillery. Some Japanese manufacturers prefer to import whisky from Scotland and to mix their Blended or pure malt whiskys, takes it to use local or own products and therefore have already bought this more distilleries in Scotland. In Scotland today include, for example, the distilleries Bowmore, Auchentoshan and Glen Garioch for Suntory Group, Ben Nevis is one of Nikka and Tomatin to the Japanese investor Takara Shuzo Co., who acquired the first a Scottish distillery.
Until the 2001 Japanese whisky played in Europe no major role, this changed abruptly when the Japanese Nikka distillery received the prestigious Whisky Magazine with the 10-year-old single malt Yoichi Price Best of Best. Since then, Japanese whisky is one of the best in the world and would receive numerous other awards at the World Whiskies Awards. For example Suntory Yamazaki 25 Years for Worlds Best Single Malt Whisky was awarded, the Nikka Taketsuru 17 Years received the award Worlds Best Blended Malt Whisky. In 2015 was the Yamazaki Sherry Cask 2013 Jim Murray s Whisky Bible with impressive 97.5 out of 100 points in the Whisky Bible and as Worlds Best Whisky.