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Japanese Whisky

Decades ago, both local and international interest in Japanese whisky was low, so few barrels were being laid down for extended maturation. Recent awards led to greater recognition and a massive under-supply. Nowadays, unless you visit bars or auction houses, there's usually no older stocks to sell. Global demand has been further accelerated by a collector rush, sending prices skyrocketing. Unprepared, many Japanese distilleries have discontinued their age statements, consolidating them into NAS bottlings which include younger whiskies. The dropping of age statements doesn't always translate into inferior quality. In fact, the country's best blenders have risen to the challenge of creating a great assemblage from a restricted inventory.
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The birth of Japanese whisky - a crash course in distilling and blending.

It's no surprise that Japanese distillers are winning awards, given that Japan has been making whisky since 1923. Masataka Taketsuru's early efforts are now part of whisky folklore. Visiting Scotland to undergo a crash course in the art of distilling, he spent brief periods at both Longmorn and Hazelburn. Lacking the centuries of trial and error that the Scots worked through, the nation's whisky experiment took a scientific approach early on, which later incorporated the people's cultural affinity with nature as a creative and harmonising force.

Japanese whisky style.

Japanese whiskies differ from other styles being typically distilled from clear wort after long fermentations and are matured in a diverse range of casks, including x-plum liqueur barrels and those made from the indigenous Mizunara oak. To generalise, the styles reflect the national cuisine: delicately flavoured, elegant, rarely overpowering - in short, food whiskies that also lend themselves to a warmer climate. However, there are notable exceptions. Consumption has been almost exclusively domestic, in fact, Japan has only recently started to export to major markets like the US.

Buy Japanese Whiskies online from Nicks Wine Merchants.

Nicks Wine Merchants continue to stock an outstanding selection of Japanese whiskies, from pure malts, single malts, grain whiskies, high end blends and collectables like rare Hanyu and Karuizawa bottlings, shipped to most of Australia. We import directly to ensure some of the best prices in Australia and many of the selections are tasted and rated to further guide your purchase. Subscribe to our Spirits and Liqueurs Email Newsletter to keep up to date with new arrivals, whisky tastings, special offers and more.