Availability of Japanese whisky in Japan

Slàinte_Mhath

Here is an update on what whiskies can be found in Japan. I have been travelling Japan for three weeks this summer and checked availabilities on countless occasions, including distilleries (both Yamazaki and Nikka), specialist shops, department stores, liquor stores and others. I will list whiskies based on how rare they are to find and add prices where it matters.

EASY TO FIND

There is a bunch of NAS whiskies that can be found in ordinary convenience stores. Each convenience store normally has a small selection of 20 cl bottles and a few 70 cl bottles. Check out a few of them and you should find all the following:

Nikka Miyagikyo (NAS)
Nikka Yoichi (NAS)
Nikka Taketsuru Pure Malt (NAS)
Suntory Hakushu (NAS)
Suntory Yamazaki (NAS)

Prices for 20 cl bottles vary between 1,000 and 1,400 yen. Nikka Coffey Malt and Nikka Coffey Grain are easy to find in department stores and liquor stores. No whiskies with an age-statement pop up in this category, unless you are interested in Nikka 12yr blended malt.

POSSIBLE TO FIND

If you are after the well-known brands with an age-statement, you could be lucky to find the following:

Suntory Hakushu 12yr (both as miniature and 70 cl bottle)
Suntory Yamazaki 12yr (mainly as 5 cl miniature)
Suntory Hibiki Japanese Harmony (NAS)
Suntory Hibiki 17yr (both as miniature and 70 cl bottle)

Hakushu 12 tends to be easier to find than Yamazaki 12, especially if you want to buy a 70 cl bottle (8,000-11,000 yen). 5 cl miniatures are an alternative (700-850 yen). Hibiki (NAS) costs about 5,000 yen and Hibiki 17yr between 11,000 and 17,000 yen (20,000 yen at Narita airport). 5 cl bottles of Hibiki 17 can be found for 800 yen. Focus on big department stores such as Bic Camera and others. Common liquor stores sometimes have one or two of the whiskies listed above.

HARD TO FIND

Now it becomes either difficult or expensive - or both. Liquors Hasegawa near Tokyo station (go to Yaesu central underground exit and proceed to the end of the T-shaped shopping area) is the first option here, but it is expensive!

Nikka Taketsuru 17yr
Nikka Taketsuru 21yr
Suntory Hakushu 18yr
Suntory Yamazaki 12yr
Suntory Yamazaki 18yr
Suntory Hibiki 12yr (discontinued)

Liquors Hasegawa offered Yamazaki 12yr for 11,000 yen a bottle and Hakushu 18yr/Yamazaki 18yr for 45,800 yen a bottle. Some department stores have Yamazaki 12 for about 9,000 yen but in most places it is sold out. The discontinued Hibiki 12yr is difficult to find: I got 1 bottle from a liquor store in Abashiri (dusted shelves, last bottle) and to my surprise, there were some 50 cl bottles at Yamazaki distillery for sale. Not for long, I guess. Taketsuru 17 I saw twice, once in a department store near Shinjuku station and once in a liquor store in Hakodate. It costs between 7,000 and 8,000 yen.

Narita duty free is NOT the place to buy your whisky, the prices are for people who have more money than sense (50,000 yen for Hakushu 18yr/Yamazaki 18yr/Hibiki 21yr).

I got one bottle of Yamazaki 18yr at Yamazaki distillery but they sell it under the counter. If you do a tasting on 1st floor, be nice to the person in charge, taste the Yamazaki 18 and ask if you could buy a bottle. They make a phone call to the shop in 2nd floor and there you can get the bottle for 27,000 yen. Not sure if this works all the time, or if I was just lucky. They also have the 12yr under the counter.

IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND

Good luck to you if you are trying to find the following:

Nikka Miyagikyo 12yr
Nikka Yoichi 10yr / 12yr / 15 yr
Suntory Yamazaki 25yr

All Nikka whiskies with an age-statement were discontinued in 2015 (except for Taketsuru 17 and 21) and I did not find a single bottle of them. Yamazaki 25 was sold out, even at Narita airport where it costs insane 250,000 yen.

Bottom line, if you are after a solid Japanese Single Malt with an age-statement, try to find a Yamazaki 12yr. In my opinion, the 18yr expression is only slightly better than its 6 years younger brother. Yamazaki 12 is an excellent choice, probably with the best price-quality ratio. However, the NAS Yamazaki is lacking cask influence and complexity.

Good luck to you! I hope that this was useful.

Slàinte Mhath

horst_s_2

Thx a lot for this information. Whisky.com will hopefully travel Japan next year.

Slàinte_Mhath

If you are planning to visit Yamazaki distillery, make sure to book your tour months in advance.

http://www.suntory.com/factory/yamazaki/inspection/distillery_tour/

The tour is always fully booked and groups are rather small. There are 4-5 tours a day. You get to see most of the distillery which takes about an hour. The guide speaks only Japanese but audio guides in English language are provided.

You might be lucky to meet the distillery manager who speaks English fluently and who is very fond to hear peoples opinions and suggestions. I was surprised to hear that Yamazaki does not use artificial E150a to colour their malts, as it is not stated on the label.

After the tour, there is a 30 minutes tasting session where you can try two cask strength whiskies (one ex-bourbon & one ex-sherry matured Yamazaki) and the Yamazaki NAS.

In case you are travelling Hokkaido, you could consider to visit Yoichi, a small town some 60 minutes north-west from Sapporo. No reservation in advance is required and you can explore the Nikka distillery grounds by yourself. However, access is limited and the place is very crowded due to the free tasting (Taketsuru NAS).

PM me if you have any questions on distillery visits or where to find specific Japanese malts.

bedlamborn

I visited Tokyo last year in business but I only drank Sake and other local spirits when I was there. There are some japanese whiskies to buy in Sweden but only Nikka in stores. Been ages snce I tried a japanese Whisy.

Slàinte_Mhath

"bedlamborn" wrote:
I visited Tokyo last year in business but I only drank Sake and other local spirits when I was there. There are some japanese whiskies to buy in Sweden but only Nikka in stores. Been ages snce I tried a japanese Whisy.

Yamazaki and Nikka follow widely different marketing strategies, as I experienced first-hand when I visited the distilleries.


Nikka almost entirely abandoned whiskies having an age statement. You won't find Yoichi or Miyagikyo malts with solid 12- or 15-years on the bottle anymore. Taketsuru Pure Malt (17 and 21) is the only exception.

Advantage: You can still buy Nikka's in stores and online shops.
Disadvantage: Significant drop in quality (I tasted both, with and without age statement)


Yamazaki on the other hand continues with age statements, such as Yamazaki 12 + 18, and introduced only a few NAS whiskies (Hibiki Japanese Harmony, Yamazaki Distillers NAS).

Advantage: Consistantly high quality.
Disadvantage: Insane price tags, especially on Yamazaki 12 + 18.


Hence, it doesn't surprise me that it was a Nikka you spotted in Sweden. Personally, I do applaud Yamazaki for maintaining Single Malts with age statement. There are far too many NAS whiskies which cannot keep up the quality of their predecessors with age statement.