There are a couple of different versions of how the Japanese whisky industry began. Regardless of which version you hear or believe, the two principal figures at the start of whisky history in Japan were Shinjiro Torii and Masataka Taketsuru, who came together in 1923 at the founding of the Yamazaki distillery.

Torii had been a whisky importer and had produced his own blend of Scotch whisky in the early part of the century. But his real aim was to build the first Japanese distillery. In 1923 he hired Taketsuru, an equally if not more compelling figure when viewed through the lens of history. Taketsuru had travelled to Scotland in the latter half of the 1910’s and had worked at a couple of different distilleries during this time. His love affair with Scotch whisky firmly in-place, he moved back to Japan with the goal of starting a Japanese distillery.

Taketsuru wanted to produce a whisky similar to the smoky whiskies he had been part of producing in Scotland, a goal that would be postponed until a later date. Instead, when he and Torii came together in 1923, they created a whisky that may have lacked some of the smokiness Taketsuru was fond of, but quickly gained in popularity nonetheless. A few years later, Taketsuru embarked on his own distilling adventure, founding the Nikka Yoichi distillery in Hokkaido in 1934.

Today, Japanese whisky is a rare find in America. The only company exporting any whisky to the US from Japan is Suntory, who produce Yamazaki (among other brand names). A few different bottlings of Yamazaki reach the states, including the 12, 18, and 25 year old bottlings, and a very limited 25-year distilled in 1984. Very recently, Suntory began exporting a new Japanese whisky to the states, the Hibiki 12-year old.

I recently read an interesting article about Japanese whisky in the Malt Advocate, and was intrigued by the author’s description of Japanese whisky as being very well-balanced and delicate in flavor, similar in a way to Japanese food. I was in the midst of preparing for a tasting that was to include the Yamazaki 12-year, and in preparing some notes and tasting through the whiskies, I was surprised to find this description to be somewhat apt.

The Yamazaki 18-year is aged in a combination of three types of casks, American bourbon, Spanish sherry, and Japanese oak. The result is an intriguing interplay of flavors from the different types of woods and liquids they previously held. Without a doubt, there is a strong element of oak in the whisky, but it plays off well against the other flavors, and is supported by a nicely structured body.

The whisky is the color of liquid gold with a burned, amber hue to it. The nose has fresh notes of citrus and vanilla, and sweeter notes of raisins and brown sugar. The palate has piercing notes of cedar, caramel, crème anglaise, and a slight citrus astringency. The body is light but firm, not heavy on the palate but not feeling thin and watery either. There is a warming sweetness on the finish, with initial flavors of caramelized sugars giving way to molasses and then angling back towards yummy crème brulee.

I really enjoyed this whisky, I must say. I was pretty skeptical about it, having never heard much about it, and was (snobbishly) skeptical when I saw that it had a screw top. But the flavors are nicely balanced, and it is a great sipping whisky. Having also tried the 12-year, I think the 18 is really a class above its younger sibling, so if you’re thinking of picking up one of the two, I’d definitely recommend the 18-year.