Until relatively recently even the concept of Japanese whisky would have sounded bizarre to me, which is confirmation either of the Scotch industry's absolute stranglehold over British drinking culture, or of my embarrassingly parochial view of the world. The point is, the first Japanese whisky, Suntory Yamazaki, was created as long ago as 1924, and Japan is now home to at least 10 distilleries. Yamazaki's deliciously smooth 10-year-old single malt, tasted during an evidently treasonous Burns supper (thanks, J), reminded me of vanilla, orange, honey and caramel. I have it on good authority (a stranger once told me in an airport duty-free) that its 18-year-old is truly excellent. As if I didn't have enough on my plate with Scotland's 125 distilleries...
probably not in the same class of beverages that you usually consume - but just saw this article on the nytimes and had to share: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/04/world/europe/04scotland.html?ref=dining
ReplyDeleteThe scourge of Scotland unleashed by English monks - it must be a unionist plot to keep the Scots down! Must remember to try a bottle of Buckfast when I'm next north of the border.
ReplyDelete