![]() Masataka Taketsuru, Suntory’s first master distiller and Nikka’s founder, studied his art in Scotland and chose distillery sites that resembled its terrain and climate. The world of whiskey was so big.”įor much of the 20th century, Japanese distillers were perceived as little more than Scotch makers manqué. “I was a little dismissive of it, to be honest. “I respected it, but I wasn’t swinging that flag around too heavily,” he said. White was no great devotee of Japanese whiskey. At the time of his hiring two years ago, Mr. ![]() Sales have grown enough that Suntory has seen fit to draft two brand ambassadors in the United States, first the New York mixologist Gardner Dunn and then the San Francisco bartender Neyah White. That’s quite a lot for the land of bourbon.” “Now, out of 20, a good 5 know that it exists and they’ve had it. “Up until two years ago, if one in 20 customers had tasted Japanese whiskey, we were lucky,” said Flavien Desoblin, owner of Brandy Library, the TriBeCa spirits emporium. The company’s domination of the American market will be challenged later this year when its archrival, Nikka, sends in the Single Malt Yoichi 15-year-old and Taketsuru Pure Malt 12-year-old. And last year, the Hakushu 12-year-old made its debut. By 2010, the United States had its first Japanese blended whiskey, Suntory’s Hibiki. Suntory quietly introduced the Yamazaki 12-year-old in 1990, and that was the only option until 2005, when the 18-year-old arrived. The embrace has been nudged along by the fact that you can finally buy Japanese whiskey here. Compared with Scotch, Irish whiskey and bourbon, it is still the new kid on the block.īut now that those other categories have been thoroughly rediscovered by Americans over the last 30 years, it’s Japan’s turn. Japanese whiskey has been produced commercially since the 1920s, when the Yamazaki distillery was built. “We like the consumer to recognize Japanese whiskey as very high end,” said Yoshihiro Morita, Suntory’s executive manager for American sales and marketing. So it increased prices of the Yamazaki 12- and 18-year-olds by 10 percent last year and this year. Last year, Suntory’s sales in the United States rose 44 percent, according to the company, which found it difficult to keep up with demand. Quite the contrary.Īfter decades as an also-ran in the American whiskey market, Japanese whiskey is on the ascent. ![]() ![]() But it doesn’t keep bottles of the Yamazaki from disappearing off liquor-store shelves. The Shogun’s Grip’s price means Ryu doesn’t sell more than one or two a night. Its base is 18-year-old Yamazaki, the Japanese single malt made by Suntory that can cost $140 a bottle. Adam Schuman, then the beverage director, had a good excuse for the stiff tariff. It’s a Sazerac variation called Shogun’s Grip and it’s ticketed like a four-star entree: $35. ONE of the most expensive cocktails in New York can be found at Ryu, the Japanese-inspired restaurant that opened last spring in the meatpacking district. ![]()
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