what is japanesse whisky?

Answer 1

It's whisky....made in Japan. Just that.

Answer 2

Whisky is a popular drink also in Japan as well as in many countries. Especially Scotch whisky is quite popular and it was natural that some companies tried to produce whisky with a similar method and process to Scotch whisky. Most of present Japanese whisky are the results of the trials and efforts. However each Japanese whisky has each different characters as well as the same batch casks in the same warehouse of the same distillery don't have the same taste or each distillery in Scotland is producing each different malt. Some Japanese whiskies are very different from Scotch and Bourbon whiskies. The quality have been getting better and it is possible to say that Japanese whisky is not an imitation of Scotch whisky but it has a Japanese style.
History
A Japanese sweetend wine maker Settsu Shusei Seizou sent Masataka Taketuru to Scotland to study the technology of producing whisky at 1917.
In 1920 Taketsuru returned to Japan after two years' study in some Scottish distilleries but Settsu Shusei Seizou could found no distillery because of a dipression. Kotobukiya (now Suntory Co.) needed him who just leaved the company. Taketsuru recommended to build a distillery in Hokkaido as the natural features similor to Scotland but the owner Shinjiro Torii decided to build his distillery in Yamazaki, Kyoto as the place is near to the market. This is the Japanese first malt whisky distillery. Taketsuru was the distillery manager in Yamazaki distillery for ten years and leaved for Hokkaido to build his own distillery in Hokkaido. Nikka Whisky Co. is his company.
Most of the malt whisky produced in Japan is supplied for blending but no whisky is exchanged to any other company. So each distillery is producing some whiskies of different styles. The raw materials are mostly imported.

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Answer 3

Japanese whisky is whisky-I believe SUNTORY is the famous Japanese brand. Cannot tell you how it tastes, because I do not drink.
There is a famous Japanese rice wine--made from rice of course--called SAKE, pronounced SAA-KAY. Many different brands. I have been told that double- distilled is best. Drunk warm, near the body temperature, or thereabout. It is similar to the Chinese Mao tai. Better avoid all alcoholic drinks. Thery are habit forming.

Answer 4

Whisky production in Japan began around 1870, but the first commercial production was in 1923, when the country's first distillery—Yamazaki—opened. Broadly speaking the style of Japanese whisky is more similar to that of Scotch whisky than Bourbon whiskey, and thus the spelling typically follows the Scotch convention (i.e. omitting the letter "e").
There are several companies producing whisky in Japan. Perhaps the two most well known are Suntory and Nikka. Both of these produce blended as well as single malt whiskies.


One of the most influential figures in the history of Japanese whisky was Masataka Taketsuru. He studied the art of distilling in Scotland, and brought this knowledge back to Japan in the early 1920s. He was instrumental in the creation of Japan's first two whisky distilleries. Whilst working for Kotobukiya (later to become part of Suntory) he helped to establish the Yamazaki Distillery. In 1934 he left Kotobukiya to form his own company—Dainipponkaju—which would later change its name to Nikka. In this new venture he established the Yoichi distillery in Hokkaidō.
Distilleries

There are currently around ten whisky distilleries in Japan, these include:
Yamazaki - owned by Suntory, located near Osaka/Kyoto on the main island of Honshū.
Hakushu - also owned by Suntory.
Yoichi- owned by Nikka, located on the Northern island of Hokkaidō
Sendai / Miyagikyo - also Nikka, located to the North of the main island, near Sendai.
Karuizawa - owned by Mercian.
Chichibu / Hanyu, located in the city of Chichibu in Saitama prefecture near Tokyo on the main island.
Fuji / Gotemba, owned by Kirin.
Reputation

For some time it was believed by many that whisky made in the Scotch style, but not produced in Scotland, could not possibly measure up to the standards of the traditional Scotch distilleries. Until fairly recently, the market for Japanese whiskies was almost entirely domestic.
However, in recent years, a number of blind tastings have been organised by Whisky Magazine, which have included Japanese single malts in the line up, along with malts from distilleries considered to be among the best in Scotland. On more than one occasaion, the results have had Japanese single malts (particularly those of Yoichi and Yamazaki) scoring higher than their Scotch counterparts.
As a result it is now widely accepted amongst malt connoisseurs that Japanese whisky has come of age.
Style

The production of Japanese whisky began as a conscious effort to recreate the style of Scotch whisky. Pioneers like Taketsuru carefully studied the process of making Scotch whisky, and went to great lengths in an attempt to recreate that process in Japan. The location of Yoichi in Hokkaidō was chosen particularly for its terrain and climate, which were in many ways reminiscent of Scotland (although financial constraints resulted in the first distillery actually being built in the more convenient location of Yamazaki on the main island).
Necessities due to the sort of resources readily accessible, however, led to distinct differences between Scotch and Japanese whiskies. The grains which compose the mash, for example, generally are maize, millet, sometimes rice, and some few others—wheat and rye are almost never used in Japanese whisky. Additionally, the initial mash fermentation process in Japan typically uses an agent similar to the koji used in sake fermentation. These two major differences lend Japanese whisky its distinction from other whiskies produced throughout the world.
One facet of the style of Japanese whisky comes from the way in which blended whisky is produced, and the differing nature of the industry in Japan. Despite the recent rise of interest in single malt whiskies, the vast proportion of whisky sold in the world is still blended. The requirements of blended whiskies are one of the main driving forces behind the diversity of malts produced by Scotland's distilleries. Typically each distillery will focus on a particular style, and blenders will choose from this wide array of elements offered by all the different distilleries to make their product. Whilst sometimes a particular brand of blended whisky may be owned by a company that also owns one or more distilleries, it is also quite common for trading to take place between the various companies. The components of a blend may involve malt whisky from a number of distilleries, and each of these could conceivably be owned by a different company.
In Japan however a different model is generally adopted. Typically the whisky companies own both the distilleries and the brands of blended whiskies. These companies are often reluctant to trade with their competitors. So a blended whisky in Japan will generally only contain malt whisky from the distilleries owned by that same company (sometimes supplemented with malts imported from Scottish distilleries).
This clearly means that blenders in Japan have in the past had a significantly reduced palette from which to create their products. It has been suggested that this may have been a limiting factor in the success of Japanese blends, particularly outside of Japan.
As a reaction to this, individual distilleries in Japan have becoming increasingly more diverse over recent years. It is quite common for a single Japanese distillery to produce a wide range of styles, from the smokey and peaty style of Islay, through the heavily sherried, to the lighter and more delicate floral notes of Speyside.
The diversity and innovation to be found in Japanese distilleries may be one of the contributing factors to their recent high profile and acclaim in the global arena.

Answer 5

Whiskey from Japan.

Answer 6

SANTORI TIMES