Thanks Ralfy, great information. I recently did the tour at the Ben Nevis distillery and asked the guide where most of their produce goes, he said he was unable to tell me anything about that, I understand why now. I got a bottle of the 12 year old Nevis Dew, a very nice dram indeed.

Thanks for the shout-out to Canadian Whiskies Ralfy. I thought we had been forgotten! The “extras” videos are great.

I inherited from my father a decanter of Suntory Keizo Saji Private Reserve that was given to him in the 1970's. It is NAS, but in this day and age it is somewhat valuable on the auction market. I plan to open it in honor of my father, but having little knowledge of Japanese whiskey I have been of late dedicating myself to trying to educate my taste so that I can appreciate it. Your presentation on Japanese whiskey has opened my eyes immeasurably and I thank you. You remain my spirit guide in all things whisk(e)y. Thank you Ralfy!

I live in Japan and even here the price of local whiskey is slightly high. Not as cheap as people would expect. Also, not so easy to find! But we should not forget that the origin of Japanese whisky is scotch. And the way they make it is really like they do everything else, which suits them perfectly but might annoy western people.

Hibiki 12 is still one of my all time favourite blends. Maybe Japanese whisky is expensive but I love it

Purist! Thanks Ralphy, you’re by far the best!

“Jura, only distillery in Isle of Jura LEGALLY; moving on 😜” lollll, 😂🤣😆 Ralfy, you are awesome 😎 👏

I'm in the Kansai region of Japan in May so I've just booked a tour of the Yamazaki distillery. Looking forward to trying some 18yo to see if it's as good as I remember, but also saddened I'll never see a bottle for the £80 I paid last time.

Integrity, transparency, openness, honesty, honour.. Dangerous ground, Ralfy.. dangerous ground.. Think I might have to report you to the YOOTOOBZ.. ;D Cheers, and thanks for another fascinating little sortie.

Excellent review, Ralfy. This is one of your great ones that goes beyond whisky and into life itself. *Spot on and well said* ! Cheers! ;)

Living in Ontario Canada I really appreciate the opportunity to enjoy the Canadian whisky that we have available. We pay way to much and selection is miniscule for imported. The last few years we have seen and tasted a lot of great Canadian whisky, I hope that that time and demand will change the distribution of the great Canadian whisky to export. In Canada we see a lot of great Canadian whisky stay here. We make good stuff but no one else gets to try it.

Dear Ralfy, My name is Josh Morgan, I am 25 years old and hail from the Scottish settlement city of Dunedin in New Zealand (on a side note, I think I saw in one of your videos showing part of your collection that you have a bottle of willowbank distillery whisky from Dunedin in your collection). I have been meaning to reach out to you for a while now to thank you for your great help over the last three years! I was drawn to the idea of whisky long before I finally acquired a taste for it. I loved the culture surrounding Scotch whisky, the history behind it and the vast abundance of variety that there appeared to be for a spirit made from the same (mostly) ingredients. Then one day about three years ago when me and my flatmates were heading to Melbourne, Australia for a holiday I decided I would pick up a bottle of single malt from duty free on the way home and finally force myself to acquire a taste for it (I say “force myself” because when I asked some of my colleagues about how they grew to enjoy Scotch they basically told me that they locked themselves in a room with a bottle). Anyway, I way directed to a bottle of Auchentoshan Springwood (have you sampled that one?) by the helpful lady in the duty free shop and when I arrived back in NZ I excitedly cracked the seal on my first even bottle and poured a measure… It is a miracle that I am still drinking whisky today. I can now recognize that it was young (probably 3 years and 1 day), rough spirit that the distillery had bottled and applied some fancy, nonsensical marketing to (I know you are a fan of that) and fobbed off on to the travel retail market. Frankly it was weasel piss! But as that was my first experience of drinking single malt neat I figured that that was how it was supposed to taste and I just needed to persevere. And then one day while surfing on KZfaq I stumbled onto your channel. I was first struck by how easy your videos are to watch, how passionate and genuine you are and how much I was learning about whisky. Soon it was my daily ritual to find a quiet corner of our flat, pour myself a dram, pop in my headphones and enjoy a malt moment with you. I quickly learned that the “Springwood” whisky I had purchased was likely shite has I had suspected and would need another more suitable beginner dram, so brought myself a Glenmorangie 10, I enjoyed that alot more than the former. Three years or so on and I am still enjoying malt moments with you on the regular, I would like to think that I have leached a decent amount of whisky knowledge from you, and have worked my way through a good few bottles of lovely whisky, with a few stashed away for later. Lately I have been travelling with my partner, something we had planned to do for a few years. We are one month into our travels as of today and have been travelling south east Asia to start. Even though I don't have much access to whisky currently, I am still able to enjoy your videos by binge watching them while on long and sometimes unpleasant bus and boat trips (mainly in Laos). Long story short, I wanted to thank you kindly Ralfy, from your travelling malt mate from New Zealand, for your videos, they have and continue to be inspirational and thoroughly enjoyable! We will be heading to the UK in late May/early June and likely straight up to Scotland. Are there any whisky experiences or distillery visits that you could Ralfy-recommend? Will you be doing any tastings around that time? If you were keen (understandable if not, I'm sure you get many such emails) it would be my pleasure to buy you a dram to say thank you when we visit Scotland! I hope you are doing well, and although very late, congratulations on your success in Bonneville (I just recently watched those videos). Warm regards, Josh. P.s., if you had space for a malt mention in an upcoming review… “Hello there you malty macabre marsupials”

You're right about age-statement Canadian whiskies Ralfy, they are something to look out for! Had the Gibson's 18 this summer and was totally stunned at how good our whiskey can be. I know you've done the Wiser's 18, but would it be possible for you to host another aged bottle on your vlog?

I'm Canadian and I do drink Canadian whisky but I've never had any that compares to my favourites from Scotland. I'll take an Ardbeg or Springbank every time. By the way always loved Amrut too.

Great review Ralfy! I've been enjoying your "extras" installments. That was a great choice with the separate themes. Well, I must say, that you've gone and confirmed, not rumours, because I've literally heard nothing regarding Japanese whisky methods, but just funny feeling. Perhaps I have a built-in aversion to marketing fads. I've never been keen to go and get Japanese whisky, certainly the probability is now lessened. I will however continue to enjoy their green tea and plum wine. Thanks for your commitment to giving us "see-through" information. Cheers!

My go to whiskey lately has been Suntory's Toki. It's a blend but it's cheap $30-35 where you can find it. Delicious

sticking to scotch whiskies. especially ones matured in bourbon casks.

It's just sad, I adored the Nikka 15 and Yamazaki 18... and having a Hakushu 10 around was such a nice little treat... now none of those are affordable to me.

Ralfy I also can no longer afford Japanese single malts - but if one travels to Japan at all I would recommend some standard (and new) blends made by bona fide whisky makers. I really like Kirin Whisky‘ s Fuji Sanroku(50%abv, ncf- nice to sip or in a highball), and Suntory Kakubin and Nikka Black( these make great highballs and cost 10-20 dollars in Japan). For malts - Chichibu might be one to watch - let’s hope they put out age statements at down to earth prices when they are of age ( this year perhaps?) and other small farm-ish distilleries like White Oak(Akashi). Good point on Canadian whiskies - there are now a good selection of 8-10-12-15-18-20 year old age statements and up, and now some higher strengths as well. I hope the 1/11 or 9.09 percent rule gets addressed. That is stunting its growth in global appeal! Question: which new Scottish distillery are you most anticipating? Cheers from Seoul, Mark

I always thought the bottle resembled the style of Taketsuru 17 and 21. Make sense now. Cheers Ralfy

I was a bit confused by the Nikka black, it wasn't comparable to anything else they make. But I love their "from the barrel" and "coffee grain", and enjoy many other Asian whiskys. It's a shame we can't keep business tricks and market manipulation out of the picture, and just stick to the art and perfection of the spirits. And a true regional scotch will always be a class onto their own for the not so gullible connoisseur. Cheers 🥃

Ralfy thanks for all the knowledge you bestowed toward the single malt whiskey lovers like me ....as if was thinking about buying some Japanese whiskies I think I should wait for a while ....focus towards Scottish single malt ...you are so right if I can spend a money like 200$ for overrated yamazaki 18 Japanese whiskies....I can get like 1 springbank 12,Glen Scotia 15 and tobermory 10 and it come under 200$ .....it is a no brainer for a single malt lover...with the information you have dispense about how Japanese whiskies blend there malt with scotch and consider and tag it as Japanese whiskies .....I am done buying Japanese whiskies

Rally is the best KZfaqr ever!

Thanks for all of the inside information, Ralfy.

Great video Ralfy. Love your insights! Cheers from South Africa where we pay an arm and a leg for Japanese Whiskies! 👌🥃!!

There used to be a Nikka Taketsuru 12 year and when I couldn't find it anymore, I found Taketsuru NAS Pure Malt. I like that new one better than the 12yo. More beefy.

Shocking revelations! I had no idea.

Nikka from the barrel is quite excellent, and very affordable, especially at airports!

It's a very good point that, even quality considerations aside, there's a HUGE relative marketing advantage to be had by ANY distiller who will simply be honest about what goes into what they're making. With so many producers these days playing cute, or dishonestly, about the age, physics and composition of their products, anyone who will admit that age makes a difference to whisky and still label it as 7 years old would gain a loyal following on the contrast alone. That which is methodical, deliberate and, particularly, overthought, is not Zen. On that basis, Scotch is far more Zen than Japanese whisky. Anyway, excellent video, Ralfy!

Ralfy, on the whole you are right about Japanese whiskeys, judging from my experience over the last five years or so here in Tokyo. I am sympathetic, however, to WhiskyJapan's comment below: There are some NAS products from Nikka and Suntory today that are pretty good even for the price, the Nikka Coffey Malt for instance, or Nikka Straight from the Barrel--both decently priced at least here; but for the price of NAS Yamazaki or NAS Yoichi, I'd much rather get scotch . . . or bourbon. My first bottle of whiskey, by the way, was a Nikka Red I got from a vending machine in Meguro-ku about 45 years ago. Took me decades to try Nikka again after that.

I bought a bottle of Hakushu 12 here in Ohio for about $80 a couple months ago. I would say it is worth that price but not much more.

I agree with the Transparency and Honesty factor.. Everyone makes mistakes... But if it is an honest mistake.. People will ALWAYS give one another chance!

Thanks for the quality information! Any evidence of Suntory importing and blending outside whiskeys?

Ralfy, scotch is super expensive in Canada last time I looked for Scotch in Vancouver is was pretty much twice as much as here in States

Hi Ralfy, I‘m watching your videos for a while now and enjoying your reviews much. I really appreciate your expertise and style! Keep up the excellent work! By the way, did you ever use the malt mention introduction „Hello my multy malty malthead malicious marauders“? Cheers from Germany

I'm lucky to be able to get Yamazaki 12 for $84 where I'm at in the US. It is certainly good and has some unique qualities, but I wouldn't pay more than that for it myself. Matter of fact, not sure if I would buy a replacement even at that price.

"Memorable Mandible Manipulating Magical Malt Moment"

Mostly, the expenses come from Import and wholesale people making money. That Pure malt you're using in your reference, the Nikka pure malt, costs about 15 pounds in Japan. Here, it's around 50. The ridiculous pricing on the Yoichi 10, 12, 15, 20 is because, there is no more. They have all been discontinued, because a few years back, suddenly Europe and China wanted Japanese whiskies (who were at that moment, just recovering from a steady decline in sales), due to their whiskies being sent to the WWA and winning. I do agree with you that a lot of the NAS whiskies currently on the market are not great, but it is what it is. Brands like Toguchi have never said they were using Japanese distilled whisky. When they started out, they were quite open on where their malt came from. Most importers here are not. The Kurayoshi whisky, currently on the market, is also sourced in Scotland and maybe Canada. For blends, the smaller distilleries indeed import most of their grain whisky and a lot of the malt whisky from abroad. But look in to new or re-started distilleries like Mars and Chichibu and when ignoring their blends, White Oak. Some of the most interesting and flavourful malts are being produced there. If you want to try some of their samples to compare to what you have tasted up to now, feel free to send me a message and I'd gladly send you some to try them out (This offer is only for Ralfy, of course).

Japanese whisky is cost prohibitive in my neck of the woods. American, Scotch , Irish and Canadian are really affordable though. I feel fortunate.

One bottle of "Japanese Whiskey" in my collection. Hibiki Japanese Harmony. Its quite the android malt if ya get my drift!

Wow, very surprised to hear that!

The quality age-statement Japanese whiskies seem to have followed the Macallan pricing model. But its really not artificially inflated- they never made enough of the older whiskies to satisfy the world demand. For sure the Japanese movement toward NAS at reasonable price points will not sustain their reputation. And I agree they are pushing out too much boring, grainy blends. I tossed a terrible bottle down the sink just yesterday. The world really needs reasonably priced Japanese age-statement whiskies (and Hibiki blends) again in the future, without putting us into bankruptcy. And then hopefully Ralfy will find something to review again. We can dream.

Heck yeah, self confidence in self review.

Canadian Club Single Malt? Bulk Canadian rye and corn spirit from Hiram Walker? Why Is Canadian Whisky itself is not seriously when Japanese and American bottlers sell it for a premium?

Tons of great Canadian stuff coming out these days and a shocking amount of new ones opening all the time.

Suntory is taking over the world, they own Bowmore, Auchentoshan and I know there is another Scotch Whisky they own(help me Ralfy). They also own Beam and all the American Whiskies in their portfolio.

Ralfy, it would be great for you to do some tastings of Japanese sake (nihonshu) and shochu. There are wonderful flavour experiences to be had out there in the native alcohol of the islands which are radically different to any other kind of alcoholic drink! You also get way more bang for your buck with Japanese sake than you ever could with Japanese whisky, which is, as you've said before, often overpriced and typically way too young.

I bought a bottle of Yamazaki 12 back in 2014 for £45 and enjoyed it and thought that was a decent price. It’s now £90 a bottle and, in my opinion, just not worth it.

I have to say it Ralfy! I think you are going very far into craft bias department. Not all that is commercial let's say, is bad. Big Japanese groups started selling nas because of stock problems, last remained is Nikka Taketsuru 17yo (although I'm now a bit concerned if there is only Yoichi and Miyagykio blend). Yes, Japanese whisky market is one of least regulated and you possibly can sell a lot of crap. On the other hand distillers can be more flexible, and not so dependent of concrete bodies like SWA (we all remember Compass Box cases, aren’t we?). Highball-Izakaya culture is just brilliant (not that invasive way of drinking blends, complementary to meal in addition). Small distilleries market is just blooming (think Chichibu is 10 year this year!). I'm not trying to whitewash, but I think you're putting too much weigh only on one side. Regards Jakub

I was excited to try all kinds of Japanese whiskey on a recent trip to Tokyo. I quickly got bored with it; all the same very expensive whiskey's sold at bars that mainly targeted tourists. The weird thing was that the Japanese whiskey was more expensive in Tokyo than Scotch whiskey was! I was quite surprised to find a bottle of 14YO Clynelish for about $40 after conversion at a corner liquor store. Problem solved!

for those of you who are wondering what is the price of yoichi 15yo, so let me reveal it for you, gentlemen. it is now € 957,33 on whisky auctions. yes, almost a thousand euros. A THOUSAND.

Please review more rums and bourbons.

Really interesting polemical views. In a week when the governing body sues a small German distillery because their name includes reference to a “small valley”, you could name more pertinent transparency topics they could tackle, and more effectively promote the product we are all so proud and passionate about...

Everyone is crazy about Japan's version of Scotch and forgot about Japan's "produced by default" drink: THE SAKE! It is very affordable in Japan right now and you get some quality sake for less than 1/4th the price of Japanese whisky.

Ralfy...yur sayn tht Japan ads Ben Nevis to their malts thn call it a pure malt?? as in JWG?

Does Japanese whiskey use rice in them like Sake rice wine? I've had one amazing sweet sake that the Japanese Shihan offered me a sample after i passed my black belt test. But I've never found any good Sake since then.

A gentleman came into the liquor store today, while I was perusing the shelves. I couldn't help but overhear he was talking to the clerk about "whisky aged in concrete". It seemed beyond strange and I was curious what he was looking at. I couldn't really see what he bought, but the bottle he grabbed came from the spot where there were 2 Japanese whiskies among all the bourbon, one of them being Nikka. I promptly forgot this until I heard "aged in rail tunnel". I don't know if that was it, but both seem like a gimmick.

It's a crying shame that marketing took over. I can remember picking up a bottle of Suntory Zen back when I lived in Izumo, Western Japan. A VG whisky for next to nothing. Then PR BS took hold :(

Hear, hear..!

I was "Amused" to see a £60 500ml "Japanese" Blended Whisky.. I tried to read the tasting notes.. All in Kanji.. Then I saw a little note in French... The only English wording was... Wait for it... "Product of France"!?!?!

Can anyone advise me of a good Whisky Website or forum please.. I have millions of questions and Google only ever sends me to Supermarkets when I ask it..

I've tried samples of the NAS expressions from Yamazaki, Hakushu, Yoichi and Miyagikyo and they are all far to young and not worth buying. Excellent review Ralfy.

Ralfy a malt mention suggestion--malty malted milk maltiest man muncher by Jim Cram

How much story has japanese whisky? 30 years at most?

@15:34 You broke wind, didn't'cha? Or did the cameraman step on a duck? Cheers mate!

Must confess I do like the Suntory Hibiki and Nikka Coffey Grain but I am completely ignorant of their true provenance. Educate me please.

Hey ralfy as a Canadian living in Canada where the prices are set by the government I can attest that good, aged Canadian whisky is no cheaper than the imported stuff. It’s very sad. I recommend you check lcbo.com to see the prices in our Canadian stores

Best. Job. Ever?? love ur content.

I bought a few Japanese whiskies years ago and was underwhelmed then when they were okay price wise. I ended up selling off a three bottles last year and bought 8 bottles of American and Scotch. Prices are laughable.

Great video Ralfy, keep up the excellent work. Call us!

Ralfy what do you think about Kavalan from Taiwan?

You can get 20year old Yoichi on Amazon Japan for only ¥ 498,000 or £ 3,282 .32 😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣

Nice bit of research there Ralfy. Prices of Japan whiskies seriously overpriced and often smaller 50CL bottles. There is a problem with "Perceived Value", particularly with whiskies and Brand Marketers know it i.e. people associate price with quality. Great reminder that Scotch Whisky is such great value and quality compared with world whiskies - ye canny whack it!

Here too.

The over-priced Japanese whiskies are generally not worth buying ever since the Yamasaki 18 was claimed whisky of the year a few years ago. Since then, prices for even entry level whiskies have gone through the roof.

The camera is not giving a natural color Ralfy... I hope your investments in the equipment will satisfy u eventually.

👍

I agree with much of this, but not all of of it. Japanese whisky is just not as homogeneous as Ralfy makes out. What he says is somewhat true if you look at what currently readily and easily available on the market, but not true if you look at Japanese whisky as a whole. His argument about flavour profile does not hold up for example if you simply compare any youngish available Chichibu to a 10yo Ben Nevis. In that case what Ralfy says is for the most part the opposite of reality. Too much generalisation in any event.

I never had Japanese whisky until today...tasted my first two whiskies from Suntory...Hibiki Harmony (no age statement?) and Hibiki 21yr. In retrospect and especially after watching this review...I would agree with Ralfy that Japanese whisky is in the current climate, overpriced

PewDiePie really needs to watch this...

why?

Ralfy, you mention the word "Quality". Please define .... " Quality"!

I buy Nikons and Toyotas, not Japanese no age, expensive whisky.

Ill buy my whisky from Scotland! I'll buy electronic's from japan!

Pewdiepie is triggered.

Ralfy wattaya thank of JW rolin out "Jane Walker" 4 the women in your life. JW see Johnnie Walker is 2 intimidatin hence "Jane' #moreMarketingFlannel

“Japanese whisky” sounds to me just as funny as “Scottish sake”.

never buy overpriced japanese whisky

Take that Japanese Whisky... And Auction it... Then buy several SpringBank?

Japanese whisky is over-rated? Thank heavens someone has finally said it. That Emperor certainly has no clothes.

Whisky is Scottish....Many have tried and are trying, I would not drink whisky from any other country. We make the purest and best whisky in the world. ( only an opinion).....

First !