Japan is the second largest Single Malt producing country in the world...and some argue it stands ahead of everybody else when it comes to quality! This is no news to our friends in Europe and Asia, but the idea of high-quality whiskies from the Land of the Rising Sun remains a novelty here in the US, for we only recently got to receive not only the big boys' marks, but also a few small producers' crafty bottlings. What is so special anyway about this whisky made in Japan? The last 10 years' international competitions seem to translate an overwhelming superiority to all whiskies "made in Japan": single malts, blended malts, blended whiskies...is it the water? The grain? The oak perhaps? Science has something to do with it, and Scotland too! Dive into a world of elegance and power, of strength and containment. Tradition and innovation amazingly sync up in this 92 year-old story, from the fine-tuning of a Scottish heritage to the borrowing of American whiskey techniques and the always dominating spirit of improvement so dear to the Japanese. Dedicated scholars will have prepared the class by (re)viewing “Jiro dreams of sushi” and “Lost in translation”. Slainte, and Kampai!
