キリン ウイスキー 富士山麓 樽熟原酒50度

The sun is rising to the right of the 747. Folks are gathering their belongings as Tokyo and respite from the long flight approaches. But I’m looking to the left, waiting for an old friend to amble into view; waiting for Fuji-san. Like the Gates of Imladris, Mount Fuji identifies the approaching land as a bastion of civilisation and culture. I smile as the volcano passes below. An odd combination of excitement and serenity overwhelms me; I’m back in Japan.

In any corner store in any town in Japan one can find several shelves well stocked with whisky and other spirits. It was in just such a store, in the shadow of Mount Fuji, that I first encountered Kirin Fuji Sanroku blended whisky (the original version) in 2014. Eighteen dollars for a nigh-on cask strength whisky? How bad could it be? As it turned out, not bad at all. It would have tasted even better had I bought it in Tokyo, where the street price was about ten bucks. A product of Kirin’s Fuji Gotemba Distillery, Fuji Sanroku is one of the most ubiquitous “supermarket whiskies” in Japan.

The original, but not the best.

Four years on, the bottle has grown to 700ml (up from 600) and its label now prominently proclaims “Non Chill Filtered”. The recipe has changed but not beyond recognition. Fuji Gotemba chief blender Jota Tanaka has created a whisky that is more refined, better balanced and more flavourful than its predecessor. The distillery produces malt whisky and light, medium and heavy grains, to the tune of some 12 million litres a year. Yes, it’s huge. Reprising a tale of other Japanese distilleries, the location was allegedly chosen based on it’s Scotland-like climate. The town of Gotemba, at the feet of Mt Fuji, is 620 metres above sea level, with an average temperature of only 13 degrees, so I’m inclined to believe the story.

The Fuji-Gotemba distillery was founded in 1973. Is that what they mean by barrel-proof ?

Originally a collaboration between Seagram’s, Chivas and Four Roses, the Gotemba distillery is now the sole province of Kirin, Japan. As malt is casked at only 50.5%ABV at Fuji Gotemba (grain is between 55 and 63%) this blend is pretty close to the cask filling strength there. In other words, your ten to eighteen bucks is paying for a lot of whisky and not much added water.

Atsushi Horigami’s Bar Zeotrope, Shinjuku.

ありがとうございます

Unfortunately, my local store only stocked these small bottles of Suntory Kakubin.

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Bar Intium, Tsuruhashi. Blade Runner territory. Futuristic, dystopic, dark, intense and my favourite part of Osaka.

While Kirin Fuji Sanroku is not officially exported, one can find it in Australia but expect to pay $100 to $150...sigh. To be fair to the importers, much of that thousand percent markup is actually Australian government excise duty, which, apparently, is for our own good, doncha know...

Colour: Deep gold.

Nose: Stewed apples, Brandy Snaps, coconut, raspberry and black tea. A whiff of pine sap and a blast of ethanol.

Palate: Chotto mizu, yields a soft arrival despite its high ABV. Simple and sweet. Vanilla wafer biscuits, a touch of kiwi fruit and raspberry, which lingers a little before disappearing in a puff of tannin. It's all quite pleasant, if simple and two dimensional; like most of the people I meet. Fuji Sanroku is young and unsophisticated but inoffensive without being boring; unlike most of the people I meet. 

While it’s predecessor could fairly be described as cheerful but a bit rough, this is somewhat more refined, if still young and volatile. The cold climate works against Fuji Sanroku here.

Mouthfeel is more substantial than the original but still unnoteworthy.

A short finish of black tea and bubblegum concludes with a dash of spice, a touch of oak and a sting of alcohol.

The remodelled Kirin Fuji Sanroku is a more substantial and more enjoyable whisky than its rough and ready progenitor. Decent, if unexceptional, it is still adorable in its own, low budget, way. I always seem to pick up a bottle of this when I’m in Japan as its just so hard to go past at 50% ABV, not chill-filtered, around fifteen bucks and quite quaffable. But I wouldn’t waste my duty free allowance bringing it home, let alone fork out $150 dollars for it when I get there...

Speaking of which, there is one thing I really hate about visiting Japan:

Leaving.

Kirin Fuji Sanroku.

79/100

William Crampton

日本が大好きです

Thats about sixteen Kangarubles.

Space filled by Kittler... Chairman Meow?

Oshita-san, Bar Freedom, Osaka. Arigatou gozaimashita!

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A very small part of Suntory Yamazaki Distillery’s “Whisky Library” Shimamoto-chō, Mishima-gun, Ōsaka-fu, Japan

An evening at Toshiharu-san’s Hanaikada Recording Studio put quite a dent in the Fuji Sanroku. Arigatou gozaimashita Toshiharu-san!

A LOVELY PAIR OF NIKKAS

In 1828, a Scotsman, Robert Stein, built on the work of his predecessors to create a still that fed the wash (the raw material of the distillation process) through a column of partitions. Called the Patent Still, it was first used at the Cameronbridge Grain Distillery in Scotland. A demonstration of Stein's still observed by Dublin excise tax* collector, Aeneas Coffey, inspired the French-born Irishman to improve and subsequently patent the design in 1830. Coffey had, no doubt, seen all manner of still designs during his long career as an excise officer. The continuous distillation of the Coffey still (as opposed to the batch distillation of a pot still) proved much cheaper to fuel, faster and more efficient, producing a higher concentration of alcohol in the final distillate (up to 95.6% ABV in a modern Coffey Still).  

         Aeneas Coffey

              Mr Coffey's still

    Nikka Founder, Masataka              Taketsuru

However, all was not whiskey and clover for Mr Coffey. Distillers soon discovered that the process stripped their distillate of the volatiles that add flavour, leaving nowt but tasteless, high-strength spirit. Coffey Stills are steam-heated. While the lack of direct-firing in a Coffey Still reduces maintenance and removes any chance of scorching the contents, steam-heating reduces flavour. As an aside; Glenfarclas is now the only Scotch Whisky producer to direct-fire all their stills. Glenfiddich direct-fires around a third of their 32 stills. Damn you Mortlach! I do believe Glenfarclas is now my favourite working distillery...or it could just be this lovely dram of 105 talking (through its meat avatar)...I digress:

So, while many Irish and Scotish distillers remained loyal to their pot stills, the Coffey Still was widely adopted for the production of grain whisky, gin, rum, bourbon and vodka. You know, all that stuff that is inferior to Single Malt.

Coffey himself gave up distilling in 1835, closing his Dock Distillery in Dublin and establishing Aeneas Coffey & Sons in London, building Coffey Stills for others. In his latter years, despite his inestimable contribution to distilling worldwide, Aeneas Coffey drifted into obscurity. His burial site is unknown.

In contrast, Masataka Taketsuru, founder of Nikka, is highly revered to this day. He is regarded in Japan as The Father of Japanese Whisky.

Nikka Coffey Grain 45% ABV  NAS 2018

Colour: Pale gold.

Nose: Rich, sweet, vanilla custard, orange toffee, coconut and a touch of cinnamon. Simple and sweet but quite pleasant; like a country girl (sans ute).

Palate: Substantial, almost syrupy mouthfeel, orange, coconut, corn syrup and canned fruit; sweeet. Refined and clean but still a one trick pony; unlike a country girl. A pleasant but short finish of cinnamon and oak, sullied somewhat by a very slight metallic zing. 

This is a lovely whisky, as grain goes. Much more sophisticated than Teeling Single grain. More grown up than Suntory's Chita. More robust than Greenore. And yet, just a little dull.

One can't help but wonder; how good would this be from a pot still?

83/100

Nikka Coffey Malt 45% ABV  NAS 2018

Colour: Deep gold.

Nose: Vanilla, oak spice, rich malt, ripe green fruits and fresh sponge cake.

Palate: Substantial mouthfeel, on the shy side of chewy. Red fruits now, more cake, rich hazelnut, caramel and, ironically, creamy coffee. Yummy. A medium finish of ripe red plums and whipped cream...topped with nuts. Yes, it could be a desert. It should be a desert, damn it!

On the sweet side but otherwise balanced and interesting, if not complex.

86/100  

William Crampton

So many Nikkas, so little time.

* 1:The redistribution of wealth, by force.

  2:Theft.

  3:The punishment of those who have done nothing wrong      in order to reward those who have done nothing            right.