Favorite International Whisky?

Xounlistedxox

What are your favorite whiskies of the world? I'm not talking about scotch, bourbon, Irish etc. I'm talking about whisky from a place that they can only call it whisky.

Example:

My favorite to date is Nikka Whisky Taketsuru 12 years old. That stuff is amazing! One of the few whiskies I wouldn't mind sipping daily, and never have to be in a certain mood to pour some. It's malty, yet sweet, very smooth.

SanctTom

"Xounlistedxox" wrote:
What are your favorite whiskies of the world? I'm not talking about scotch, bourbon, Irish etc. I'm talking about whisky from a place that they can only call it whisky.

Though I'm not sure if I understand the definition from above (I don't see how e.g. Japanese whiskys differ form the ones mentiones above), my best loved drams from around the world (if I exclude the British Isles and Northern America) certainly come from Japan:
Taketsuru 21 yrs (well worth the price increase from the 12 or 17 yrs old)
Hibiki 21 yrs (just about the same)
Hanyu (every single one I tried is superb, favourites are Ichiro's Malt-Joker and King of Hearts, Hanyu 1991/2010 19 J. Red Oak Cask #377)
Karuizawa (the older sherry-matured ones - unfortunately way out of my price range, just manage to get a dram or sample here or there)
Chichibu (just beginning to get into this - young stuff, of course, but very good even at this age)

If I think about "daily drams" and Japan, Hibiki 12, Hakushu 12 or Nikka From the Barrel come to mind... I always try to have some of them open in my bar.

Xounlistedxox

What I meant in my definition is a whisky that can only be called whisky because it is not from a place that can call it something else because of where it is from. Like scotch, it can only be called scotch if it is from Scotland & follows many laws that force you to make your product in certain ways, or bourbon etc.

Japanese Whisky is a perfect example. A lot of their whiskies are made very similar to scotch, but since they have less restrictions they have more freedom with their end product. This allows for more creativity and flavor complexity in my opinion. So while Japanese whiskies may be similar to scotch they can never be called scotch.

LiquorList

You're asking for people's favorite whiskies of the world and then eliminating 9/10ths of the world with your very narrow view of what the definition of whisky is. Not trying to sound like a smart ass, just making an observation sir. You've even eliminated the two locations where bourbon and whisky was created. Shame on you.

A little history may be in order perhaps. A lot of folks tend to believe whisky was first discovered/invented/developed in Scotland, hence the "Scotch" you so flippantly dismissed as a regional thing. Scottish and Irish immigrants came to the USA and many of them settled in the Blue Mountain area of Kentucky where they brought the whisky making skill with them.

In the 1700s, a preacher by the name of Elijah Craig in Kentucky, pioneered the method of aging whiskey in charred, American White Oak barrels, giving American whiskey its very distinctive flavor and color. Because he invented this process in Bourbon county, Kentucky, all whiskies made by this process became known as "bourbon".

Hope that helps.

Corso_theRed

If we talk categories why not keep it simple?

Scotch
American Whisky (Bourbon, Ryes, American single malts, etc)
Irish
Canadian
Japanese
International

Why like this? Well, each regional category has a sufficiently large enough output. This goes for quantity in volume, as well as variety. I leave out India, because their domestic output might be huge in terms of volume, yet when it comes to single malt brands, what is there really? Amrut, Paul John, McDowell's. I'd even go as far as to put Canadia into the international category...

LiquorList

"Corso_theRed" wrote:
If we talk categories why not keep it simple?

Scotch
American Whisky (Bourbon, Ryes, American single malts, etc)
Irish
Canadian
Japanese
International

Why like this? Well, each regional category has a sufficiently large enough output. This goes for quantity in volume, as well as variety. I leave out India, because their domestic output might be huge in terms of volume, yet when it comes to single malt brands, what is there really? Amrut, Paul John, McDowell's. I'd even go as far as to put Canadia into the international category...

Good post. However, even though my favorite Canadian is a blend (Crown Royal Black Label) they do have a very distinctive flavor to their whiskies. The cooler climes can be pointed to for that. I could do a blind taste test - if you had a Kentucky bourbon, a scotch and a Canadian shot of whiskey in front of me, I could tell you with certainty, which was which.

On another note, I haven't tried the Japanese whiskies yet. Looking forward to that as I have heard nothing but good things. Of course, I'll need to make sure it's not glowing. (Bad joke, I know.)

Budgerigar_canalis

"LiquorList" wrote:
if you had a Kentucky bourbon, a scotch and a Canadian shot of whiskey in front of me, I could tell you with certainty, which was which.

If the scotch was a malt whisky, that wouldn't be too hard, I guess. Try crosstasting a single malt from the USA (Balcones comes to mind), from Canada (Glen Breton), and from Scotland (can't think of a Scotch single malt right now, sorry). That would be a real chlallenge. Otherwise you would have three different types of whisky, and they wouldn't be so hard to tell apart.

"LiquorList" wrote:
On another note, I haven't tried the Japanese whiskies yet. Looking forward to that as I have heard nothing but good things. Of course, I'll need to make sure it's not glowing. (Bad joke, I know.)

I've heard that now that the first post-Fukushima whiskies come on the market, beside the age and alcohol content the Japanese must now also state the half-life of the whisky on the bottle.

Xounlistedxox

"LiquorList" wrote:
You're asking for people's favorite whiskies of the world and then eliminating 9/10ths of the world with your very narrow view of what the definition of whisky is. Not trying to sound like a smart ass, just making an observation sir. You've even eliminated the two locations where bourbon and whisky was created. Shame on you.

A little history may be in order perhaps. A lot of folks tend to believe whisky was first discovered/invented/developed in Scotland, hence the "Scotch" you so flippantly dismissed as a regional thing. Scottish and Irish immigrants came to the USA and many of them settled in the Blue Mountain area of Kentucky where they brought the whisky making skill with them.

In the 1700s, a preacher by the name of Elijah Craig in Kentucky, pioneered the method of aging whiskey in charred, American White Oak barrels, giving American whiskey its very distinctive flavor and color. Because he invented this process in Bourbon county, Kentucky, all whiskies made by this process became known as "bourbon".

Hope that helps.

I'm well aware of all of this. You are missing the point of my post completely. I explained in detail the point in an above post. I will re-iterate. In Scotland you can make Scotch. Scotch has to be made a certain way by law. Bourbon comes from the USA, bourbon also has a strict way it must be made. Whisky(ey) from other places around the world may or may not have rules/laws for their whiskey, so they have more freedom to try different things. This is why I excluded categories as I did.

Budgerigar_canalis

In Europe, the same regulations as in Scotland apply, except that the casks haven't got to be oak. Very rarely you get a whisky that hasn't matured (only) in oak casks. I tried one German whisky with an acacia wood finish. Let's just say I still haven't found my "favorite" international whisky...

Heidjer

"Budgerigar_canalis" wrote:
In Europe, the same regulations as in Scotland apply, except that the casks haven't got to be oak. Very rarely you get a whisky that hasn't matured (only) in oak casks. I tried one German whisky with an acacia wood finish. Let's just say I still haven't found my "favorite" international whisky...

There are more exceptions - Single Malt may be distilled from any grain (or multiple grains in the mashbill), as long as it's malted, in Scotland it has to be Barley. Also outside of Scotland in the EU Single Malt may be distilled on column stills, not only pot stills.

As of Brands for International whisky, it's no secret that I like The Glen Els and The Alrik by the Hammerschmiede very much. The distillery is located in the Harz Mountains in Lower Saxony, Germany. I havent' tried much else, though - I do have some Armorik samples from France which I will taste soon.

LiquorList

"Budgerigar_canalis" wrote:

"LiquorList" wrote:
if you had a Kentucky bourbon, a scotch and a Canadian shot of whiskey in front of me, I could tell you with certainty, which was which.

I've heard that now that the first post-Fukushima whiskies come on the market, beside the age and alcohol content the Japanese must now also state the half-life of the whisky on the bottle.

Haha! Oh that's bad man!