Suntory

Suntory Time: Japanese Whisky Coming to America

Filed under: Spirits

If you watched Bill Murray and Scarlet Johansson in the travel film Lost in Translation, the name Suntory may ring a bell. It's the Japanese whisky which Murray's character was promoting on a trip to Japan, but now it's the whisky that's reciprocating by making the trans-Pacific voyage to American shores. Previously unavailable in the United States, the Japanese distillery has announced plans to import its coveted Hibiki 12 whisky (pictured at right) to the American market. Priced at around $60, the Hibiki 12 is an 86-proof blend of whiskies ranging from 12 years to 30 years old, filtered in bamboo charcoal.

Around the same time, Suntory is also launching a special-edition Yamazaki 1984, a 96-proof blend of some 30 whiskies selling for around $600 to celebrate the brand's 25th anniversary – although the distillery itself was actually founded in 1899. Suntory whiskies are considered some of the world's best and have even been awarded top honors by several prestigious whisky tasting authorities, and should find a welcoming market in the United States. Thanks to Ben for the tip!

[Source: Cigar Afficionado]

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Tags: hibiki, japanese whisky, JapaneseWhisky, scotch, suntory, suntory hibiki, suntory yamazaki, SuntoryHibiki, SuntoryYamazaki, whiskey, whisky, yamazaki

Yamazaki Whisky with Banshaku Ice Balls

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits

Yamazaki Single Malt, from Japanese whisky giant Suntory (which you may remember from Lost In Translation), is by far the best of world's can't-call-it-Scotches. So it's no wonder they've come up with a better way to drink it as well: with perfect spheres of ice 2" in diameter.

They don't melt as fast as our inferior American ice cubes, so they keep the drink at an optimum temperature longer without watering it down as much. An important Banshaku ("evening drink") ritual in Japan, apprentice bartenders in the high-end joints there must learn to carve them flawlessly from big blocks of ice.

They don't do that here unfortunately, but the MoMA store has a stock of imported plastic molds that do the trick quite well (right). You need a bottle of Yamazaki to get the full Land of the Rising Sun effect, though; their 12-year-old is $40 and 18-year-old is $100.

Tags: cocktails, Japan, Scotch, single malt, SingleMalt, Suntory, whisky, Yamazaki