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Other World Classics:
Whisky: North of the Border
Suntory Rising
by John Hansell
Japan is an enigma. Buddhist temples stand majestically over "love hotels" that charge for their rooms by the hour; 200+ mph bullet trains fly by commuters on bicycles; flashing neon lights dwarf ancient tea houses. It is a country where you take a GPS-guided taxi to sumo wrestling matches; where slurping bowls of noodles is commonplace, but wiping your mouth with a napkin is discouraged.
Japan is a blend of the old and new, an amalgam of some of the best ideas from other nations and cultures. And so it is with Japanese whisky.
History
The first Japanese whisky distillery-Suntory's Yamazaki distillery-was built in 1923. The man who brought whisky-making to Japan was Masataka Taketsuru, the son of a saké-making family. He attended college in Scotland and even worked briefly at Scotch distilleries. He took his passion and ideas (along with his Scottish wife) back with him to Japan and helped Suntory create the Yamazaki distillery.
While touring the Yamazaki distillery recently, whisky blender Shinji Fukuyo told me that the relationship between Taketsuru and Suntory was short-lived. Mr. Taketsuru was interested in producing scotch-style (i.e., very smoky) whisky in Japan. The first whisky-simply called "White Label"-had plenty of peat smoke and didn't fare well with the Japanese consumer. The product was discontinued, and Masataka Taketsuru eventually moved on to help establish the Yoichi distillery.
Meanwhile, Suntory endeavored to produce a style that was similar to scotch, but, at the same time, distinctive and unique to Japan. This philosophy holds true today. Hiroyoshi "Mike" Miyamoto, Yamazaki's distillery manager explained it this way: "We would like to be more 'Japanese-y', something different than scotch. Nikka's whiskies are very much scotch-like. They are more smoky, sulphury. We like to be more delicate, more appealing to the Japanese market."
Even today, there are only a handful of operating Japanese distilleries. Suntory, the market leader, owns the Yamazaki distillery and the Hakushu distillery (built on Yamazaki's 50th anniversary in 1973). Suntory's biggest competitor, Nikka, owns the Yoichi and Sendai distilleries. Three smaller interest distilleries also make whisky: Gotemba, Karutzawa, and, sporadically, Toa Shuzo. Their whiskies can be difficult to find-even in Japan.
Production: adversity drives creativity
In Japan, as with Scotland, the vast majority of malt whisky produced is sold to blenders. Blended whisky brand owners need stocks of malt whisky to properly formulate their blends. In Scotland, it is common practice for competing whisky companies to trade casks of malt whisky among each other for the purpose of blending.
Not in Japan. Such reciprocity doesn't exist. "We should reciprocate for blending," notes Mike Miyamoto. "But we don't."
No doubt, part of this reluctance is the animosity that goes back to when Masataka Taketsuru left Suntory's Yamazaki distillery to start up the Nikka's Yoichi distillery. Another impediment is the competitive beer business. The Japanese whisky companies own or have ties to the major Japanese beer brands. Suntory makes its own beer, brewer Asahi controls Nikka, and the Kirin brewery owns Gotemba. Competition in the beer category bleeds into the whisky arena. Even if reciprocity did occur, there still would only be a handful of operating distilleries to select from, unlike the 90 or so in Scotland.
Because of this, each company must rely heavily on its own malt whisky stocks to produce its blend brands (or be forced to supplement malt whisky by importing it from other countries, like Scotland). This has driven Suntory (and to a lesser degree the other distilleries) to experiment with different production techniques to produce a variety of whisky flavors "in house" to create balanced, complex whisky blends.
This was obvious to me while touring Suntory's Yamazaki and Hakushu distilleries. The production process fundamentals are similar to Scotch whisky. However, they vary the ingredients and processes extensively (well beyond that of most Scotch distilleries) to produce many different whiskies styles from just one distillery.
This variety begins at the front end of whisky-making, with the use of different barley strains and peating levels. The distilleries do not alter their water supply, but the natural water supply used at the Hakushu distillery (which is located at the base of what are known as the "Japanese Alps") is unusually soft, producing a softer style whisky that provides ample contrast to their sister distillery, Yamazaki. The water is also very clean-so clean, it is bottled and sold to the public.
The quality and type of water is significant. Toshiya Furusawa, Hakushu's General Manager, gives an example: "As an experiment, we used Hakushu water to make Yamazaki whisky and the whisky produced tasted like Hakushu whisky."
The mashing process used at both distilleries produces very clear wort. Toshiya Furusawa told me that it removes the harshness and oiliness that would be imparted to the whisky, producing a clean, fruity, estery whisky.
In addition, both distilleries use, almost exclusively, wooden washbacks (fermenters). "We ferment the wash (beer) longer than most Scotch distilleries," notes Toshiya. He explained that the extended fermentation time allows the lactobacillus bacteria in the wood more time to impact the wash, which imparts a creamy flavor to the resulting whisky.
The Yamazaki distillery has twelve stills; Hakushu has eleven. Their sizes and shapes vary significantly. Most of the stills are heated directly by gas flame; others are heated with internal steam coils. Some used old-fashioned worm tubs to condense the spirit; others use more modern heat exchangers. "Direct fire stills and worm tubs both produce whisky with fuller body and flavor," Toshiya explains. "Depending on which stills we use, we can produce whiskies of varying flavors and richness."
As you can imagine, the distilleries are also experimenting with a variety of wood casks for aging their whisky. I spent a morning with Shinji Fukuyo, senior blender for Suntory, tasting the product lines of Yamazaki and Hakushu whisky, along with some "work in progress" experiments not yet bottled.
In addition to using traditional American oak (bourbon barrels) and Spanish oak (sherry barrels), they are also aging a portion of whisky in Japanese oak-something unique to Japanese whiskies. "We started using Japanese oak shortly after World War II when sherry casks became scarce," he explained to me. "Initially, it was not received very well, but now it is highly regarded. Japanese oak produces a spicier, more intense, more tannic, and somewhat sweeter whisky than traditional American oak."
Japanese oak is used primarily for the maturing of Yamazaki whiskies, and it is used in limited amounts. Shinji: "We have to make special arrangements to procure Japanese oak because it is in very limited supply."
The whiskies
The standard line of Yamazaki whiskies consists of 10, 12, 18, and 25 year old offerings. (Note that the 10 year old and 25 year old-which retails for a lofty $900-are not available in the U.S.) A 35 year old is also being introduced later in 2006. The malt used for Yamazaki whisky is mostly peat-free, as are the subsequent whiskies produced from it. To me, Yamazaki whiskies are comparable to Speyside whiskies in their personality (perhaps a little more delicate and with slightly less malt backbone). The distillery, however, has produced some batches of highly smoky whisky, similar to Islay whiskies. This experimentation began in 1988, and it is most recognizable in some of their Vintage Malt bottlings offered by the distillery, described below (the most recent being a 1991 Vintage release).
The Hakushu core portfolio consists of 10, 12, and 18 year old whiskies, with the 18 year old just introduced this year. Sadly, none are available yet in the U.S. Hakushu whiskies are more distinctive in nature. It speaks of a Western Scottish Highland style, the closest Scotch whisky resembling it being Oban. They are dry, noticeably smoky (but not excessively so), and gently spicy. This style is increasingly rare, and it is refreshing to see it being produced at Hakushu.
In addition to the standard product line, Suntory also introduces a "Vintage Malt" each year, from either Yamazaki or Hakushu, bottled at 56%. Here you can see the diversity and creativity of Suntory, as some of the releases are aged exclusively, for example, in Japanese Oak, while others are quite peated.
A few years ago, Suntory introduced a program called The Owner's Cask: for a small fee, you can visit either distillery and taste whiskies from a selection of dozens of cask samples. If you like one, you can purchase the entire cask. Price varies depending on age and size of cask. Each distillery has also recently introduced a Distillery Reserve, which is a 15 year old whisky, bottled at 56%, and available only at the distillery's gift shop.
Suntory also produces a series of blended whiskies (sadly not yet available in the U.S.). The premium line in the blend category is called Hibiki, which translates to "harmony." The Hibiki line sports an unusually high percentage of malt whisky in it (over 50% according to one of their blenders) with the youngest bottling being 17 years old. The others are 21 and 30 years old.
You can also witness Suntory's creativity in some of their more esoteric blended whisky offerings. One product, a blend called "Zenmaru", is finished in casks constructed of sandalwood barrel heads. The spicy sandalwood notes are evident in the whisky's flavor profile. Another whisky, a pure malt called "Hokuto" is filtered through bamboo charcoal, similar to the charcoal "mellowing" of Tennessee whiskey. The charcoal filtering, according to Shinji, produces a lighter, smoother product.
Some research samples I tasted included Yamazaki whisky aged in cedar (a curiosity; it shouldn't be bottled as single malt-it's too bitter) and a Yamazaki whisky finished for three years in a plum liqueur cask. I found this whisky to be quite intriguing. I also tasted a variety of grain whiskies and even a 20 year old grain pot still whisky distilled in 1986. The creative efforts at Suntory seem endless.
The Future
The future of Japanese whisky is bright. The whiskies are the best they have ever been. The industry (and Suntory in particular) seems determined to prove to the world that Japanese whisky no longer is the bridesmaid to scotch.
"We have been making whisky for more than 80 years," Yamazaki Distillery Manager Mike Miamoto explained. "We are very confident in our product."
He paused for a moment, and then continued: "Every day we are building the quality of our whisky with our passion. In some ways, I feel sorry for the Scotch whisky industry. They think they are the best and therefore endeavor to keep their quality the same. We just want to continue improving our quality and challenging ourselves."
Suntory is doing lots of interesting things and making great whisky. Why is it that they are keeping it a secret from the rest of the world?
"We're not keeping it a secret," Mike said. "People just aren't listening."
Other World Classics:
Whisky: North of the Border
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