Podcast

EPISODE INTRO

In the 7th episode of the Japan Distilled podcast, your hosts Christopher Pellegrini & Stephen Lyman introduce the newly announced Japanese whisky standards. In this third of a planned four-part series on Japanese whiskies, we dive into the production quality standards, labeling rules, and other arcane parts of the new guidance issued by the Japanese Spirits & Liqueur Makers Association (JSLMA). These voluntary standards go into effect April 1, 2021 and JSLMA members are expected to be fully compliant by March 31, 2024.

NOTE: This episode is being released between 2 regularly scheduled podcast episodes due to the “breaking news” nature of these announcements.

HOSTS

CHRISTOPHER PELLEGRINI Vermont born and bred, long-time Tokyo resident and author of The Shochu Handbook, Christopher learned all about delicious fermentations as a brewer at Otter Creek (Middlebury, VT). He now spends most of his waking hours convincing strangers that shochu and awamori are unlike anything they’ve ever tried before. 

STEPHEN LYMAN discovered Japan’s indigenous spirits at an izakaya in New York City. He was so enthralled that he now lives in Japan and works in a tiny craft shochu distillery every autumn. His first book, The Complete Guide to Japanese Drinks, was nominated for a 2020 James Beard Award.

We have been drinking whisky longer than we have been drinking shochu or awamori, though we enjoy all of these spirits a great deal.

If you have any comments or questions about this episode of Japan Distilled, please reach out to Stephen or Christopher via Twitter. We would love to hear from you. 

SHOW NOTES

Context

The need for these Japanese whisky standards may not be readily apparent to casual drinkers or even fans of whisky more generally, but “real” (meaning verifiably produced with grains) whisky has been produced in Japan since at least 1926, but there has never been an official definition of what Japanese whisky means. As such, as Japanese whisky has become popular overseas, some entrepreneurs have started importing Scotch, Canadian, and American whiskies in bulk and bottling them in Japan with fancy Japanese labels even though the spirit inside the bottle is 100% NOT Japanese whisky.

Additionally, Japanese shochu produced from grains and then aged in oak barrels meets the standards of whisky in America so several shochu makers have begun selling their products as whisky in the US, though to their credit none of them have used the term “Japanese whisky” on their packaging.

As a result of these recent competitive developments, the JSLMA, which is a trade association of western style spirits makers (their website is even yoshu.or.jp – “yoshu” means “western liquor” in Japanese), finally decided the time had come to specifically define Japanese whisky standards. And specific they were!

Japanese Whisky Standards

On Feburary 12, 2021, the JSLMA announced their “Standards for Labeling Whisky.” Central to these Japanese whisky standards are the “Production Method Quality Requirements” by which Japanese whisky will henceforth be defined.

JSLMA members have until March 31, 2024 to become compliant.

Whisky can still be made in Japan without meeting these Japanese whisky standards, but it can no longer be labeled and promoted as Japanese whisky. Nikka was quick to change their website to clearly show which of their whiskies met these new standards and which did not.

Other Caveats

There are a few other prescriptions in these new standards that attempt to further protect this newly minted “accepted” definition of Japanese whisky.

Deceptive Labeling names, places, the Japanese flag, and other labeling that would give the impression that the product is Japanese whisky when it does not adhere to the above quality standards is not permitted.

Non-Compliant Vendors no members of the JSLMA may sell any product to an outside vendor (exporter, foreign distributor, brand owner) who engages in the deceptive labeling practices above.

In other words, not only are Japanese whisky companies not allowed to create packaging that evokes Japanese whisky, they are also not permitted to sell product to an outside company who would attempt to do so.

Our Take

All told these new Japanese whisky labeling standards are long overdue, a net benefit to consumers, and will likely have the intended effect of protecting both the reputation and bottom lines of the Japanese whisky makers themselves.

In one blow they have eliminated imported bulk whisky being relabeled and sold as Japanese whisky as all Japanese whisky must now be 100% produced in Japan. Of course, there is nothing preventing non-JSLMA members from violating these terms, but most if not all domestic whisky makers hope to be members in good standing of this trade organization. Even Matsui Distillery of the notorious Kurayoshi brand wants to be part of the club.

This does not, of course, prevent Suntory and Nikka, both of whom own Scotch distilleries (Suntory even owns Jim Beam) from importing their foreign made whiskies for domestic blends or even in whiskies exported, but not labeled as Japanese whisky.

The other thing that remains to be seen is how shochu makers respond. Many of them are not member of the JSLMA since they have their own trade association, the Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association. Shochu and awamori makers have now gotten the short end of the whisky debate stick twice in recent history.

In 1997, Japan signed a treaty with the WTO which was designed to settle a dispute between the WTO and Japan over what was seen as an unfair domestic tax regime. Japan taxed imported whisky at a higher rate than domestic whisky and shochu and awamori at an even lower rate than that. The treaty harmonized taxes on imported spirits and Japanese domestic spirits. Another minor concession was that Japanese shochu and awamori could no longer be sold in Japan if it were darker than 0.08 optical density on a light spectrophotometer. Whiskies are typically 0.20 to 0.80 on this scale.

That effectively left many shochu and awamori makers with cask aging product they could not sell without either heavily filtering or diluting the barrel aged spirits. It took a while, but a few of them realized they could export it and sell it in the US as rice whisky. These standards seem to be an attempt at closing that door once again since shochu and awamori makers are expressly prohibited from malting their grains and malted grains are now required for Japanese whisky.

Time will tell how all of this plays out.

Note: A full official English translation of these new standards can be downloaded from the JSLMA website.

CREDITS

Theme Song: Begin Anywhere by Tomoko Miyata (http://tomokomiyata.net/)

Mixing and Editing: Rich Pav (https://www.uncannyjapan.com/)

Links

WHISKY RISING by Stefan Van Eycken the definitive guide to Japanese whisky. A veritable encyclopedia of information.

JAPANESE WHISKY by Brian Ashcraft an accessible, well-researched introduction to the best whiskies from Japan.

THE WAY OF WHISKY by Dave Broom an international whisky expert’s journey through Japan.

Nomunication a Japanese Whisky-focused site run by whisky professional Whisky Richard.

Kanpai!

EPISODE INTRO

In the 6th episode of the Japan Distilled podcast, your hosts Christopher Pellegrini & Stephen Lyman discuss how the Japanese whisky industry rose from the ashes to become some of the best whiskies in the world in less than two decades. In this second of a planned three-part series that has now been expanded to four parts, we explore how Japanese whiskies rose from obscurity to begin beating the best Scotch whiskies in the world in their own backyard. We also discuss how the Japanese domestic whisky market recovered independent of the international awards.

NOTE: This episode covers 2007 to present in Japan’s whisky history.

CREDITS

Theme Song: Begin Anywhere by Tomoko Miyata (http://tomokomiyata.net/)

Mixing and Editing: Rich Pav (https://www.uncannyjapan.com/)

HOSTS

CHRISTOPHER PELLEGRINI Vermont born and bred, long-time Tokyo resident and author of The Shochu Handbook, Christopher learned about delicious fermentations as a brewer at Otter Creek (Middlebury, VT). He now spends most of his waking hours convincing strangers that shochu and awamori are unlike anything they’ve ever tried before. 

STEPHEN LYMAN discovered Japan’s indigenous spirits at an izakaya in New York City. He was so enthralled that he now lives in Japan and works in a tiny craft shochu distillery every autumn. His first book, The Complete Guide to Japanese Drinks, was nominated for a 2020 James Beard Award.

We have been drinking whisky longer than we have been drinking shochu or awamori, though we enjoy all of these spirits a great deal.

If you have any comments or questions about this episode of Japan Distilled, please reach out to Stephen or Christopher via Twitter. We would love to hear from you. 

SHOW NOTES

Japan’s Best Whiskies (Chronologically by award)

2001 Yoichi 10 Year won “Best of the Best” in a blind tasting for Whisky Magazine UK.

2003* Yamazaki 12 won gold at the International Spirits Challenge.

2004* Hibiki 30 won the overall trophy at the International Spirits Challenge.

2005* Yamazaki 18 won double gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

*today these competition medals are so common for Japanese whisky that they no longer rate as news, but these early wins as some of the best whiskies were very important.

2008 Yoichi 1987 won Best Single Malt in the World and Hikbiki 30 won Best Blended Whisky in the World at the World Whiskies Awards (WWA).

2009-2020 a Japanese blended whisky has won a Best Blended Whisky Award every single year at the WWA.

2011 Yamazaki 1984 Limited Edition won Best Single Malt in the World at WWA.

2012 Yamazaki 25 Year won Best Single Malt in the World at WWA.

2017 Chichibu Whisky Matsuri 2017 won Best Single Cask in the World at the World Whisky Awards.

2018 & 2020 Hakushu 25 Year won Best Single Malt in the World at WWA.

Whisky Highballs!

All of those pretty impressive awards did not shift drinking habits in Japan. That happened thanks to a clever ad campaign from Suntory to sell their Kakubin Highballs with pretty young actresses enjoying the refreshing drink. Today these are everywhere, and we mean everywhere.

New Distilleries

No new whisky distilleries would open in Japan between Mars Shinshu coming online in 1985 and the opening of the Chichibu Distillery in 2008.

Ichiro Akuto would rise to fame when he began releasing bottlings from his family’s defunct Hanyu Distillery in the form of the card series. On the show we said 53, but there were actually 54 bottlings with playing card labels. He would leverage this into his Chichibu Distillery becoming one of the most sought after whiskies among Japanese whisky fans. His offerings are already considered among the best whiskies coming out of Japan.

Okayama Distillery (2011) This maker of sake, shochu, beer, liqueurs, and, yes, whisky, has not made much effort to sell broadly. Their whiskies are made primarily with locally sourced 2 row barley.

Nukada Distillery (2016) From the makers of Hitachino Nest Beer. Their first release was a canned whisky highball so we are still waiting to see what they come up with for proper whisky bottlings.

Akkeshi Distillery (2016) The second whisky distillery in remote northern Hokkaido, Akkeshi has decided to make smoky peated whiskies using local Hokkaido Peat. They have released a few limited bottlings to date.

Shizuoka Distillery (2016) Previously an energy company called Gaia Flow, Shizuoka recently released their first whisky, Prologue K, made with equipment from the shuttered Karuizawa Distillery (thus the K).

Mars Tsunuki (2017) Mars-Hombo, a large alcohol producer, opened a new whisky distillery on the site of their previous korui shochu factory in far south Kagoshima. This expands production beyond their original Shinshu Distillery in Nagano Prefecture.

Kanosuke (2018) Komasa Distillery in Kagoshima got into the whisky game with this beautiful distillery along the coast. It sits just in front of their Hioki Distillery, which makes a popular barrel aged rice shochu, Mellowed Kozuru.

Yasato Distillery (2020) Also from the makers of Hitachino Nest Beer. Production has just started.

Links

WHISKY RISING by Stefan Van Eycken the definitive guide to Japanese whisky. A veritable encyclopedia of information.

JAPANESE WHISKY by Brian Ashcraft an accessible, well-researched introduction to the best whiskies from Japan.

THE WAY OF WHISKY by Dave Broom an international whisky expert’s journey through Japan.

Nomunication a Japanese Whisky-focused site run by whisky professional Whisky Richard.

Kanpai!

EPISODE INTRO

In the 5th episode of the Japan Distilled podcast, your hosts Christopher Pellegrini & Stephen Lyman tackle the most popular Japanese spirit globally. Japanese whisky has gone from a dying tradition to an international powerhouse in less than two decades. In this first of a three-part series, we tackle the origins of Japanese whisky from the samurai’s first taste to the collapse of the Japanese whisky industry in the wake of the bubble burst.

NOTE: This episode covers 1854 to 2007 in Japan’s whisky history.

CREDITS

Theme Song: Begin Anywhere by Tomoko Miyata (http://tomokomiyata.net/)

Mixing and Editing: Rich Pav (https://www.uncannyjapan.com/)

HOSTS

CHRISTOPHER PELLEGRINI Vermont born and bred, long-time Tokyo resident and author of The Shochu Handbook, Christopher learned about delicious fermentations as a brewer at Otter Creek (Middlebury, VT). He now spends most of his waking hours convincing strangers that shochu and awamori are unlike anything they’ve ever tried before. 

STEPHEN LYMAN discovered Japan’s indigenous spirits at an izakaya in New York City. He was so enthralled that he now lives in Japan and works in a tiny craft shochu distillery every autumn. His first book, The Complete Guide to Japanese Drinks, was nominated for a 2020 James Beard Award.

We have been drinking whisky longer than we have been drinking shochu or awamori, though we enjoy all of these spirits a great deal.

If you have any comments or questions about this episode of Japan Distilled, please reach out to Stephen or Christopher via Twitter. We would love to hear from you. 

SHOW NOTES

By all accounts, whisky first arrived in Japan with Commodore Matthew Perry and his “black ships.” This gunboat diplomacy is credited with the opening of Japan to global trade, but once Perry and his fleet left Japan, the Japanese were left with no knowledge of how to make the golden brown spirit Perry had so generously shared with them.

Early Japanese “whiskies” were not whisky at all, but ersatz whiskies. Fake whiskies. Probably shochu with colorings and flavorings to imitate whisky. That is until a couple of young Japanese chemists traveled abroad.

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Jokichi Takamine (1854-1922) was the first Japanese citizen to ever make authentic whisky, but he did so at the Manhattan Distillery in Peoria, Illinois from 1894-1895. However, his patented Takamine Process was abandoned by the distillery’s new owners, and Takamine went on to a very successful career developing pharmaceuticals. He donated the cherry trees to Washington, DC. in 1912 as a thank you for the success his life in the U.S. had brought him.

Masataka Taketsuru (1894-1979) is rightly called the father of Japanese whisky. He was the first Japanese citizen to travel to Scotland to learn how to make malt and grain whiskies before returning to Japan to build the Yamazaki Distillery for Suntory. He subsequently went on to start his own company, Nikka, which is Suntory’s biggest rival to this day.

Surprisingly, Takamine was making whisky in America a full 25 years before Taketsuru ever traveled abroad.

Eigashima Distillery released Japan’s first whisky in 1919, the year Taketsuru started his internships at Scotch distilleries. The provenance of this Eigashima whisky is unknown, but it was most likely imported whisky packaged in Japan. This has remained a common occurrence in Japanese whisky to this day. Eigashima today makes its own whisky – the popular Aksashi brand.

Suntory’s Yamazaki Distillery is rightly considered the first proper malt whisky distillery in Japan. Masataka Taketsuru and Shinjiro Torii released the Shirofuda (white label) brand in 1929 to tepid sales. Taketsuru was demoted by Torii and resigned shortly thereafter.

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Taketsuru went on to open the 2nd malt whisky distillery in Japan on north end of remote Hokkaido, a region he believed most mimicked Scotland’s climate. The Yoichi Distillery began selling Nikka Whisky in 1940. Supplying whisky to the Japanese navy likely saved the fledgling company from failure.

Whisky became a very popular drink in post-war Japan due to the success of Tory’s Bars. These popular English style pubs specialized in serving Suntory whisky at a price similar to a cup of coffee.

Sadly, the bubble created by real estate speculation crashed the Japanese economy and whisky sales plummeted to their nadir in 2007. That year Japanese whisky makers shipped just 20% of what they had sold at the peak in 1983.

Links

WHISKY RISING by Stefan Van Eycken the definitive guide to Japanese whisky. A veritable encyclopedia of information.

JAPANESE WHISKY by Brian Ashcraft an accessible, well-researched introduction to the spirit.

THE WAY OF WHISKY by Dave Broom an international whisky expert’s journey through Japan.

Nomunication a Japanese Whisky-focused site run by whisky professional Whisky Richard.

Kanpai!