New Tasting Rules at Liquors Hasegawa
Post by Stefan of Tokyo Whisky Hub
Liquors Hasegawa, near Tokyo station, is a liquor enthusiast’s paradise for many reasons – it’s conveniently located, the selection is fantastic, the staff very knowledgeable and you can try-before-you-buy at nominal prices. Unfortunately, Liquors Hasegawa has had to revise its tasting policy. It was not unusual for people – I hesitate to write “customers” – to drop by, sample some new whiskies, bourbons, armagnacs, calvados and what-not for a few hundred yen and then … leave. It wasn’t really ideal from the point of view of the staff – it’s not set up as a bar! – and the point of view of actual costumers – people who were actually there to purchase a bottle or two. The new rules are here (in Japanese) and my good friend Eric over at the Malty Moments blog took the trouble to translate them for us. Basically, tasting is now only possible when it is in the context of helping you decide what to purchase, with a limit of 2 samples at a time (and 5 a day, for which you’d have come back a few times on the same day, I guess). The new rules will come into effect on April 20th, the first day of Whisky Live.
Comments
Or at least a good liquors store in Osaka with more choice than the classical Suntory whiskies?
Niels Viveen, where is located that decent wine/whisky store? Do you have the name of that store?
My goal is to find some Mars Maltage but also the Kirin Sanroku and my feeling is that this is going to be pretty hard...
In Japan, the reality is that most people usually buy whisky on the internet and have it delivered to their house (which is often free).