A Report from the High Street
Post by Stefan of Tokyo Whisky Hub.
Purely by accident, I ended up in one my favourite neighbourhoods in Tokyo today - Nihonbashi / Tokyo Station / Yurakucho - so I went to all my regular liquor haunts. That was before lunch and on a half-empty stomach battling the humid summer weather: dedication or plain madness? Well, it's a thin line, sometimes. Here's a short report.
Next stop: Liquors Hasegawa. I was keen to try the new Black ("Premium") Label "Malt & Grain" produced by Ichiro Akuto. I knew chances were high they'd have a bottle open, and sure enough, they did. Just nosing it, I knew the Black Label was a vast improvement on the White Label (which I was not a fan of, to put it mildly - see my earlier post on "Ichiro's Blends"). This was very different - a really lovely blend. To this nose, the dominant notes were orange peel and pine tree / forest notes; on the palate, it was clear some virgin oak must have gone into it (pencil shavings, anin dofu, coming through). I didn't take any detailed tasting notes, but I remember thinking it couldn't have been released at a better time. Just perfect for the hot, humid summers here; also excellent value for money, I think.
After the Black Label Malt & Grain, I explored some recent Scotch single cask bottlings, and just as I was about to wrap up my little morning impromptu tasting - feeling the need for some solid food - one of the members of staff - they are fantastic, without exception, and extremely knowledgeable, by the way - asked me if I had tried the NAS Hakushu and Yamazaki. I hadn't. Five minutes later, I had. And what a revelation that was: they are superb beyond description. The person who put these beauties together deserves a big, fat summer bonus. Both are constructed around a core of 8- / 9-year old malt but enveloped by much older malt (up to 25yo). The Hakushu is very-lightly peated, with some of it finished in sherry casks (they must have been second- or third-fill, because the effect was very subtle, never overpowering those typical, lovely forest notes). The Yamazaki is an absolutely stunner: the core (young) malts were finished in wine casks, but older stock was also used (including some mizunara). I loved the Hakushu, but the Yamazaki really blew me away. It is such a beautifully harmonized whisky - words just don't do it justice. Don't take my word for it. Try it for yourself. You'll see. Kudos to the people at Suntory for creating this piece of art.
Comments
And Tanakaya is still open, but their selection is becoming less and less interesting, I think. When I first discovered the place, years ago, they had an amazing selection - so many Ichiro's malts too, I bought many of the old card bottlings there, in fact. But I noticed that what bottles just disappeared faster, but stock wasn't being kept up to date. (Not just for the Japanese whisky, Scotch as well.) So the shelves are becoming emptier and emptier, and most of the bottles older and older. (The really interesting stuff, of course, is gone... you'd be hard-pressed to find and Ichiro's malt there now!) As you may know, they are one of the few shops who don't sell online and who don't sell over the phone. The only way to buy is to go over there and buy what you want (cash only, I seem to remember). I think, to be honest, that they are slowly being eclipsed by liquor retailers with a big online presence. People just buy the stuff the moment it is released, and the safest way is to by online - lest it be sold out in a day, like the Ichiro's Malt the Game II. Slowly, over the years, consumers have been forced into adopting the attitude "online first". A few resist stubbornly... I hope they manage to survive the "amazonization" of business. Anyway, a long answer to say: yes, Tanakaya is still open!