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Bitter taste for Scots distillers as Japanese whiskies take world titles



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TWO Japanese whiskies have been voted the best in the world.
Yoichi has become the first variety produced outside Scotland to win the single malt award in an international competition run by trade paper Whisky Magazine, it was revealed yesterday.

The whisky, distilled near the city of Sapporo on the island of Hokkaido, beat dozens of other varieties, including last year's winner, Talisker 18 years old, produced on the Isle of Skye.

Suntory Hibiki, the brand advertised by the washed-up actor played by Bill Murray in the film Lost in Translation, scooped the award for the world's best blended whisky.

Rob Allanson, the editor of Whisky Magazine, said: "Hopefully this will make people sit up and realise that the Japanese are producing some phenomenal stuff. While they don't have a particularly strong toehold in the UK, they are making great gains which the British market should take note of."





The full article contains 161 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 27 April 2008 9:36 PM
  • Source: The Scotsman
  • Location: Edinburgh
  • Related Topics: Whisky
 
1

Scullion,

Canada 28/04/2008 01:30:47
Quick, an IRN-BRU sake must be developed as a counter balance.
2

Guga II,

Rockall 28/04/2008 02:52:52
I would like to see a list of the people that voted for Japanese whisky, including their countries of origin, their age etc. etc.

In any event, their taste must be in their a*se.
3

Itchy,

28/04/2008 06:15:34
How widely available is Japanese whisky?

Until it is as widely available as scotch, there's no reason to be worried.
4

SeriouslyAmused,

Ayr 28/04/2008 07:29:43
The founder of the distillery that makes Yoichi was passionate about whisky and came to Scotland as a young man to learn about the art of making whisky. I feel it is a great compliment to Scotland that he wished to learn and emulate Scottish whisky-making as opposed to any other. We should be proud to share the love of whisky with Japan.
5

Nell,

The Preservation Hall 28/04/2008 07:31:55
I thought there was some ruling that prevented certain things from being named unless they are from that country/region eg. feta cheese has to be Greek. Why does this not apply to whisky? Why do the Japs get to call it whisky when it has no association with Scotland?
6

Kate,

Zurich 28/04/2008 07:48:24
It may be distilled in the same way as Scotch but it is still WHISKEY with an E; only Scotch may be designated without the E.
7

Selgovae,

Scottish Borders 28/04/2008 07:57:18
#5 Nell

By that logic, the Italians would be complaining about Jocks such as Marshalls making pasta.
8

Selgovae,

Scottish Borders 28/04/2008 08:01:49
#6 Kate

I'm sorry, but you're wrong. Ireland and the US tend to spell it whiskey. Canada and Japan generally follow the Scottish spelling. There are no rules about spelling, only about labelling it "Scotch".
9

Kenny A,

28/04/2008 08:02:28
Two gallons of 12 year old Nippon Banzi half a pint of lager and a truck load of Asprin please.
10

Calum Crubag,

28/04/2008 08:43:39
Tha mi coma co-dhiu. Se Ardbeg as fhearr leamsa fhathast!
11

Boy Wonder,

28/04/2008 08:45:46
Whisky Or Whiskey?

A Scotsman who spells
Whisky with a n ‘e’,
should be hand cuffed
and thrown head first in the Dee.

In the USA and Ireland,
it’s spelt with an ‘e’
but in Scotland
it’s real ‘Whisky’.

So if you see Whisky
and it has an ‘e’,
only take it,
if you get it for free!

For the name is not the same
and it never will be,
a dram is only a real dram,
from a bottle of ‘Scotch Whisky’.

Stanley Bruce.
20th April 2004
12

nuffnuff,

Edinburgh 28/04/2008 08:54:23
Perhaps Scottish whisky workers should go on strike in a bid to save their reputations.
13

GraniteCity,

28/04/2008 09:18:15
Should anyone really be surprised about this. The Japanese are great at copying then rebuilding/remaking anything. Lets look at the electronics industry, way way back not long after WW2 they started by stripping down electrical equipment, copying and rebuilding it, making it smaller and generally improving it. Next it was cars, can anyone deny they now build the most reliable and highest quality (apart from the German car snobs attitude that is)cars in the world. They took to shipbuilding in the same way. By the way they have a great affinity for Scotland as they worship Thomas Glover the founder of their business and industrial plan and who founded Mitsubishi. Them enjoying whisky then deciding to copy and make their own is no shock. The only thing they still haven't got into is building aeroplanes...........mmmmm wonder why.
14

Guga II,

Rockall 28/04/2008 09:30:39
#13 Maybe too many of them still think they are kamikazes.
15

Saoghal Beag,

28/04/2008 09:37:10
Jings a bit of credit where it's due. The japanese have produced a malt to be proud of and deserve a bit of recognition. the malt is a product of its location and no more a copy than the new lochranza distillery is of anything that has gone on in scotland.
16

Jardine,

28/04/2008 09:40:52
Wha's like us?

Er, the Japanese ... but they've all got sore heids!
17

john z,

edinburgh 28/04/2008 09:47:27
Japanese whiskEy is a poor copy of Scotch. Why don't the Japanese want to drink the real thing instead of something copied in a big industrial site in Sapporo. I've a massage for the Japanese copiers,you can keep making Whiskey, but it'll NEVER be the real thing - Scotch.

As someone above said, if your whisky has an 'E' in it, only drink it if it's free.

Now what shall I have, an 18 year old Talisker from the village of Carbost in Skye, or a poor knock off copy from the Suntory industrial plant in Japan?? ooh tough choice....

18

Conan the Librarian™,

28/04/2008 11:35:43
I got a bottle of Suntory from a friend who lives in Taiwan.It lived in the back of the cupboard for a couple of years.Then one dreadful night there was Nothing Else(apart from Cinzano).It tasted no bad.But after Cinzano anything probably would have.
19

Itchy,

28/04/2008 12:13:57
#17 Yamazaki tastes like Lowland Scotch.

The more competition in the whisky/whiskey field the better.
20

The Canadian,

28/04/2008 12:23:41
I am always saddened to hear when things go badly for the Scottish Whisky industry. But Oh my. The Japanese beat the Scots. Maybe they should have allowed the Cape Breton Whisky which is distilled by Gaelic-speakers do their job.
Are things in Scotland so Angliscised they just cannot compete with the best products available.
21

The Canadian,

28/04/2008 12:25:14
Most Scots don't even know what the word Whisky means.
22

Guthrie,

Edinburgh 28/04/2008 12:33:39
I thought the point was that they learnt all they know from Scottish whisky distillers, so would it be surprising that they have applied it properly and made good whisky?

What does the word "whisky" mean then?
23

Calum Crubag,

28/04/2008 12:43:42
#22 - you are joking?

Uisge (water) beatha (of life). Whisky/ey, who cares. Gaelic has many different words and terms.

Didn't know that the Cape Breton Gaels were behind the whisky there. Gu math a theid leibh!

Air ur deagh shlàinte.
24

Saoghal Beag,

28/04/2008 12:48:19
17 you hvae never taseted japanese malt, obviously. just becuase it isn't scottish malt does not make it a bad whisky. there are decent bourbons out there, there is decent irish, so why not decent japanese?
25

The Canadian,

28/04/2008 13:06:53
Knock/Cnoc most Scots are unaware it is the same name/word.
26

Guthrie,

Edinburgh 28/04/2008 13:09:40
Calum #23- I was wondering what the Canadian would come up with. I don't know anyone who doesn't know the water of life derivation of the word whisky, the canadian possibly moves in very restricted circles.
27

Jason,

Japan 28/04/2008 13:21:33
I gave you guys a heads up on this a year ago. So don't be sore losers. Hard to compare like for like exactly, but you’ll be pleased to learn that Scotland’s product generally sells for less in Japan than the domestic. Unless you’re into Ocean in the 4-litre plastic bottle for around £12.50. “Not a drop is drunk till it’s six weeks old.”
Even "The Times" couldn't get the spelling of the Scottish sourced product right until I put them straight in my usual sympathetic, tactful, restrained manner. "Check your local off-licence. Why am I surrounded by fools and lunatics?"
uisge beatha, ‘the water of life’

28

Murloc,

Haijima 28/04/2008 14:39:02
Hah, I am a Scot living in Japan.

The Japanese take their whisky making and tasting VERY seriously and are, on average, more clued up on Whisky than the "average" Scot. They have shot bars with whisky selections that put the average Scottish bar to shame. Whisky and golf have been huge in Japan for decades by the way.

Sometimes a Japanese bar owner and his customers will try and talk with me about whisky and their knowledge is way over my head. I read somewhere that the Scottish Whisky Assocation had complained that Scottish consumers where less informed when it came to whisky appreciation than their Japanese counterparts and that they wanted to promote more awareness among the Scots to rectify this.

Oh yeh, refrain from using racist terms to describe the Japanese please. It makes Scotland look ignorant and barbaric.

Ah, I am beer lover anyway, but I take it as a compliment that the Japanese love Scotch Whisky and have sought to emulate and refine it.
29

Dáithí,

San Jose 28/04/2008 15:17:46
#28 - Murloc

>"Ah, I am beer lover anyway, but I take it as a compliment that the Japanese love Scotch Whisky and have sought to emulate and refine it."

Excellent way to look at it, Murloc. I doubt if Japan will ever give up their limited fields to grow the volume of grains that would be necessary to support any Scotch industry in volume, especially in a world looking at limited food supplies anyway.

Instead, there are a few Japanese Scotch-lovers that so love 'the water of life' that they work very hard to make some very good stuff.

They should be complemented, as should the Scots, for having made such a positive impression on peoples around the world.

Imitation, flattery...
30

Dáithí,

San Jose 28/04/2008 15:36:04
From Wikipedia -

Today, the spelling whisky (plural whiskies) is generally used for whiskies distilled in Scotland, Wales, Canada, and Japan, while whiskey is used for the spirits distilled in Ireland and America. Even though a 1968 directive of the (US) Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms specifies "whisky" as the official U.S. spelling, it allows labeling as "whiskey" in deference to tradition and most U.S. producers still use the historical spelling. Exceptions such as Early Times, Maker's Mark, and George Dickel are usually indicative of a Scottish heritage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whisky

Of course, if you disdain Wiki because of it's anarchistic nature, then other sources would be welcome!
31

Douglas,

Bathgate 28/04/2008 16:14:06
#3 Itchy: Sorry, I didn't quite catch that. A bit muffled what with your head buried in your behind. You do know that this country used to produce cars, motorcycles and electronics and laughed at the cr@p from the far east.
32

Saoghal Beag,

28/04/2008 16:20:06
29 Daithi, we aren't importanting grain from Jpapn to Scotland so no Jpanaese barley becomes scotch or is likely to.

Murlac, commonsnse without the chip on the shoulder.

Canadian, many Scots do not understand a falbh, but av an bile yir heid ye bam onywiy
33

Dáithí,

San Jose 28/04/2008 16:27:47
"#32 - Saoghal

>"29 Daithi, we aren't importanting grain from Jpapn to Scotland so no Jpanaese barley becomes scotch or is likely to."

Which hardly matters if the Japanese become more Scot(ch) than the Scot(ch) themselves.
34

The Canadian,

28/04/2008 16:35:42
26
It is a very good experience to work among some 20 different language groups from the First Nation Communities in both the USA and Canada to the Chinese, French, Polish and Hispanic groups.

Many people from Scotland (English-speaking Scotland) are narrow in outlook and still are deeply afflicted with the Colonialist attitudes they inherit being a victim but also as a so-called superior individual once they leave Scotland.

Probably the saddest part is just how much of the colonialist attitudes they bear from taking on the role of the oppressor as if they were from England. Usually it takes at least their children being born here before they fully get rid of such ways.
35

The Canadian,

28/04/2008 16:40:41
32
'Se cheist a th'ann de cho ionnsuichte sa tha thu fhein air nithean a tha ceangailte ri ar dualchas.

Chuala mi gu bheil sibh uile cho Gallda agus gu bheil e duilich sgaradh a dheanaibh eadaraibh.
Mo thruaighe oirbh.
36

Wally,

By THe Rivers Of Babylon (USA) 28/04/2008 17:31:39
the japanese are #1 in the world at exporting high-valued manufactured goods. one would expect them to keep poking at the whiskey formula to get it to taste good. they won a taste contest. their product is not well-known & consumed around the world I believe as scotch is.

however, in the future I'd expect the japanese market share to climb.
37

Over the Top,

28/04/2008 17:53:35
34
The Scots do have a terrible chip on their shoulder and it could have something to do with never ever being as good as the English, no matter how they try.

Colonialist attitudes last for a very long time and a concerted effort is usually required to alter this especially on the cultural and social front.

Incidentally, did any of you see the programme screened last night on television about music in Scotland. Can anyone beleive there was ever a distinctly Scottish Rock and pop scene in Scotland? This programme was simply hilarious for its
nothing-ness.
38

Dáithí,

San Jose 28/04/2008 20:58:24
#37 - OTT

>"The Scots do have a terrible chip on their shoulder..."

The don't, but what burden are you carrying that makes you need to come onto a Scottish forum to try to make yourself feel better about yourself by insulting others?

Resentment? Inadequacy? All of the above?
39

john z,

edinburgh 28/04/2008 23:32:40
Number 24,

Quote :..there are decent bourbons out there..

I like whisky and I've tried a lot. I've yet to find a decent bourbon though.

On another point, I can't believe people are asking the meaning of the word whisky, above.
40

Dáithí,

San Jose 28/04/2008 23:54:13
#39 - John

>"On another point, I can't believe people are asking the meaning of the word whisky, above."

Yeah, it does kinda' make you wonder.
41

Guthrie,

Edinburgh 29/04/2008 09:46:11
john z- I asked because I couldn't believe the canadians assertion that most Scots are unaware of the meaning. Perhaps I associate with too many whisky drinkers, or they've all been well educated, but I can't think of anyone who won't have a rough idea of what it means.
42

Japanesewhisky,

Japan 29/04/2008 11:10:24
There is at least one comment on here from someone who clearly does not want to know how good Japanese whisky is (by the way it is not produced in some "industrial plant in Hokkaido" it is produced in loads of different distilleries across the country, including the highest distilleries in the world in the mountains of Honshu) .. But, anyway, anyone who is interested in exploring this genuinely interesting Japanese whisky world might want to take a look at a website called nonjatta.blogspot.com, which covers it all pretty comprehensively in English. It is written by a bunch of whisky fans so it is pretty fair and balanced in its opinions.

 

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