Japanese Whiskey

[damienmcguigan]

Hey all.
I have never tried a Japanese Whiskey but would like to try a few. I normally like pot still stuff - Redbreast, Green Spot, Jameson 12 Powers 12 etc... the spicy, fruity ones I guess. Are there any whiskies out there at a reasonable price that you could recommend for me? One I like the sound of is the Nikka Whiskey by the Barrel.

[JohnM]

Nikka from the barrel is excellent. High strength too. I like the Yamazakis. The 18 is really good.

The Miyagikyo 12 is a nice one too. Lighter than the Yamazakis.

I've never had the Taketsuru 21, but it's supposed to be great. It's a vatted malt.

And... Karuizawa is superb, although very expensive.

[damienmcguigan]

Thanks John. Will have to look into some of those.

[JohnM]

Oh, and the Hibiki is excellent too.

[Luke Gough]

Hakushu 18, if you can find a reasonably priced bottle, will change your opinions of Japanese whiskey forever.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

Nikka from the barrel is excellent. High strength too. I like the Yamazakis. The 18 is really good.

The Miyagikyo 12 is a nice one too. Lighter than the Yamazakis.

I've never had the Taketsuru 21, but it's supposed to be great. It's a vatted malt.

And... Karuizawa is superb, although very expensive.

Plus 1 on everything he said

Those Japanese whiskies are all good an the single cask Karuizawa's are as John said Superb.

Start with the 12 yo . I really like the 18yo Yamazaki is hard to describe slightly quirky maybe so possibly not one to start with. But you'll not regret trying.

The Hibiki 17yo is a great luxury blend possibly like Japans version of a Midleton VR ... Very drinkable .

[bredman]

Hakushu 12 is far and away the most elegant of the entry level Japanese IMO. It's worth remembering that there are not many Japanese distilleries, and the owners do not trade malt whisky with each other for blending purposes. For this reason many styles are produced at each distillery often in a myriad of still designs and combinations with detachable lyne arms for alternating between worm tubs and condensers etc.. It's worth treating the different aged expressions as potentially quite different whiskies rather than just the same whisky with a few extra years in wood.

If you like peat now and again the Hakushu Heavily Peated is another personal favourite and more than a match for the finest Scottish of this style.