Thank you very much for your kind words Yasuda-san. Please feel free to share the video far and wide. I hope you enjoy the Foo Fighters video too! kzfaq.info/get/bejne/qq6npJd41MvamH0.html

Completely agree. Transparency is key. If you're interested in what's happened in the last year, I published an update here: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/p7Ocnaai2tnWg6c.html

That feeling when one of your favourite KZfaqrs comments on your video! Thanks so much Vin. Honoured to be in the same company as a legend like yourself.

@@KanpaiPlanet my friend, if you keep this level of quality up you'll be flying past me in no time.

On it! As you can image, producing videos like this take a long time, so please feel free to share this far and wide! Kanpai!

@@KanpaiPlanet If all that drinking gets in the way of editing, I'm sure you can find a few volunteers :D

It's thirsty work. Not many can keep up!

ありがとうございます！

Thanks for your motivating comment Cliff. I really appreciate it. Please feel free to share the video far and wide!

Glad you enjoyed it Andy! Please subscribe for more etc etc etc 😂

Thanks so much for liking, commenting and subscribing Kasey. Glad you enjoyed it. Please share far and wide! Honoured to have you as part of our growing community.

Thank you so much for your support. Interesting times for Japanese whisky indeed!

Thank you Chad. Hope you’re subscribed for more!

Glad you think so! Thanks for watching!

Glad it was helpful! Happy to help you and your fans learn more about Japanese drinks! Kanpai!

Never a bad time my friend!

Thank you very much! Please share it far and wide!

Thank you very much Stephen! Looks like you have something more to look forward to on your next trip to Japan! Please check out the other videos on the channel and subscribe for more! Kanpai!

Thank you Roman for watching! Glad you enjoyed it and found it edutaining!

I do like the 'Japan water' angle - it ties into conversations about sake and terroir too.

The phrase seemed very apt! Thanks always for your continuous support!

Thanks for watching and commenting. It's slow progress, but things are beginning to change. Check this video out for an update: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/p7Ocnaai2tnWg6c.html

Yeah "Japanese" whisky is a mirage really.

Thank you so much Rob! Kanpai!

My pleasure. I fully appreciate your feelings on Japanese whisky. They key is transparency and hopefully these new standards help us get there. Thanks for watching Madeira. There are currently two other videos on the channel about Japanese whisky. Hope you enjoy them too. Please subscribe to the channel and share far and wide - it really helps me out! We want everyone to be part of the Kanpai Planet community!

Thank you Erik. Great to see you here! I've been a long time subscriber to your channel and have learnt a lot from your content. Kanpai!

That is exactly the point Bud. For me, it's almost identical to the requirement to put the ingredients on the label of a food or drink. BTW, if you enjoyed this, watch the '6 months on' follow up here: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/p7Ocnaai2tnWg6c.html

Thank YOU for watching and commenting!

Exactly right Andrew. Transparency is the key. And thanks for the kind words about the content. Stay tuned for much more in 2022!

Thank you for watching and commenting Doctor G. Lots more whisky content on the channel, with more coming. Please subscribe for more, and share with all your friends!

Glad it was helpful! There is a follow up video I made 6 months on: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/p7Ocnaai2tnWg6c.html Please check it out!

Every time I need to pull out that fact, I have to triple check it, because something deep down of me cannot believe that is was indeed in 1968 that whisky in Japan became... err.... whisky, and even then it could contain the smallest percentage and still pass the test!

@@KanpaiPlanet I believe you...What if I was telling you that Highland Park 12 yo only first appeared in 1992 ? It was the same surprise for me when I was told that...Sure, a less critical issue...Now lots of people since I do my own video about J.P. are asking me brand & even expressions names that aren't Japanese, but even if some people state it on some websites, I cannot be totally sure of all what I find, so I did dropped a few names when I was sure about it, strange situation indeed...especially about the recent brands appearing in EU market...Painful to see how people in my local supermarket are ready to pay for fancy Kanjis...but often average non J. content..

It's a terrible situation that we have got ourselves into in Japan. Although the big players are now helping us get out of it, it was also to some extent the big players who got us into this mess. I like your comment "pay for fancy kanjis". I might steal that one... 🤓

@@KanpaiPlanet Yep...and I still can't believe those big players didn't anticipate things to produce more before the 2015 shortage...I suspect it is due to their lack of communication with big distributors in the know of the trends & sought after references (La MDW/TWE to name a few)....Also we might have been too much used since the 2000s here in EU to enjoy bottlings that inevitably would have gone higher in price, hence the superior quality of at least some (i'm thinking of Yoichi, here, for instance, my second favorite whisky distillery world wide !

Unfortunately, part of it was the conflation of factors at the start of the century. By 2000, domestic demand for whisky had been falling for almost 20 straight years! This, coupled with the demographic and economic outlook led to some reactive business decisions which, with the benefit of hindsight seem insane because fast forward and Japanese whisky started winning international recognition, the stock market rallied, the yen weakened and tourism went from 5mn visitors a year to almost 32mn in 2019!

Thank you! Please consider supporting Kanpai Planet at buymeacoff.ee/kanpaiplanet Kanpai! 🥃🥃🥃

It's still a fantastic dram!

@@KanpaiPlanet I gotta Bottle on the way.

Kanpai!

As the National Tax Agency is the main driver of alcohol regulation in this country, then as long as they get their money they are not incentivised to drive change.

Thank you! Please subscribe for more, and share these videos with all your drinks-loving friends! Kanpai! 🥃

Trash Taste fam represent! Great question, and the answer is no. No fill strength requirements in Japan. Enjoy the Hibiki. If you want to learn more about it, check out this video: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/j62Cos1huL7KpIk.html

That's an excellent way of looking at it!

well it only cost $25 inside of Japan

I will add it to the incredibly long pipeline! Kanpai!

@@KanpaiPlanet I figured, but am appreciative and positively looking forward as I have found another great one! Thank you. Kanpai!

🥃🥃🥃

Edutainment is my middle name

Baby steps, and 6 months later baby steps!

At the end of the day, it's all about the drinks and how they taste! Thanks for watching and commenting. I will have to try and get a bottle of Teerenpeli!

Thank you so much for your support! We're just getting started. Please help us grow by sharing our videos. It is truly appreciated.

@@KanpaiPlanet rate my take away and salt bae are the big trend ones More word of mouth Or if you appear in suggestions Me I tend to find things Use a lot of news feeds Esp for the olympics Tik tok instagram Industry mag feeds are good

I'll keep working on it. Thanks for the great advice!

@@KanpaiPlanet amazon japan Had some obv secondary sellers Prob will be in a hotel or bar Not sure about duty free with translate makes it easy Ebay and amazon you may see stuff Or try diff search engines Any good bar has japanese stuff why its the best

@@KanpaiPlanet advice You do a good job

Great to have different opinions about 🥃

02:43 Correct! The point is that cask-aged shochu is not whisky under JSLMA standards but can be labelled whisky under TTB regulations. One of the bottles in Essence of Suntory Volume 4 was a whisky made at their Osumi Distillery from 100% malted rice. 06:05 Even more recently, changes have been made. Many don't realize that seeing the word malt on a bottle not only implies that it is made with 100% malted barley but also that it has been made in a pot still. Hence Nikka Coffey Malt is not a malt whisky. The issue continues in Japan where you can buy a bottle of 'whisky' that contains 10% malt whisky and 90% coloured neutral spirit or redistilled molasses. While definitions around what exactly a certain drink is have been, are and will continue to be finessed, there is also a certain Common Sense approach that needs to be adopted. To paraphrase a term from the High Court case against Equitable Life, these can be considered to be 'Drinkers' Reasonable Expectations'. For example, most reasonable people would accept that apple juice is not whisky or brown coloured wine is not whisky. 🥃🥃🥃

​@@KanpaiPlanet "Many don't realize that seeing the word malt on a bottle not only implies that it is made with 100% malted barley but also that it has been made in a pot still. Hence Nikka Coffey Malt is not a malt whisky. " You're referring to Scottish regulations or Japanese? Malt in the strictest sense doesn't mean anything other than the grain has been malted, you can in fact malt any grain although not to the benefit of Malted barley. In Scottish regulations they use the word Malt only for Malted Barley which is somewhat irritating. Frustratingly they also use the word "grain" for column still whisky even though malted barley distilled in a pot still is still a grain whisky scientifically but not to the SWA. Even certifications such as IBD's use the those words to mean something they don't. I was trained in Scottish Whisky and often reflect back and ask wha? Some of this is just history but at some point I think they probably need to realize the rest of the world exists and take the blinders off. If a whisky is made from Malted barley they should say it's made from Malted Barley. If it's made from Malted Wheat they should say it's made from Malted Wheat etc... A lot of the stigma in Scottish whisky towards blends originates right there. A blend can be 100% single malt that just came from different distilleries although under regulations it falls into the category of Blended Malt which a lot of people read as Blended Whisky which hilarious enough could have "grain" in it. For consumers it's all very confusing. Japan has the opportunity to not make a mess of it. Hopefully they take that opportunity and realize that Malted barley distilled in a Coffey still is in fact malt whisky.

@@KanpaiPlanet BTW, don't read into any of my comments as criticism to you. More along the lines of "it's a minefield trying to navigate labels and regulations". You're doing a great job.

Thank you. I completely agree that Japan should not be so wedded to Scottish tradition and regulation. In fact, it isn't when it comes to cask types. On my whiskey tours I spend a lot of time explaining what precisely the term Single Malt, Blended and Blended Malt truly mean when on a bottle. And I completely agree that mashbills should be more clearly stated! The issue we have is that the laws in Japan stipulate almost nothing. And these industry standards have no legal bearing. Then we have this overlay of Scottish traditon and regulation. It leads to one big hot mess!

@@KanpaiPlanet The benefit/cost is tricky to figure out when it comes to regulations. Without them you can't convince people of quality because there will be shit*y products on the market and good products with the same label. However with too many regulations it can hamstring creativity. I love how they play with casks in Ireland and also single pot still with malted and unmalted barley. You can make any type of "Scotch" in Ireland but you can't make any type of Irish whisky in Scotland. I think this will play well for Ireland in the future. The regulations aren't too loose but aren't too tight. We were eyeing property for a distillery in my family's original land area in SW Scotland but I'm certain that I can't make what I want in Scotland or at least they'd never let me sell it. We may end up building the distillery elsewhere. Having said all of that I still like Scotch and am glad I learned within possibly the most mature whisky making system in the world.

Hey Adrian. The key point is provenance and transparency. I think the whisky community is a little more forgiving of some Ben Nevis in NFTB vs what Kurayoshi have done with bottle branding. Thanks for watching and commenting. Please subscribe for more!

@@KanpaiPlanet for purist, they might turn their nose away. The fact is that most got global acclaim. Cheers.

Kanpai!

乾杯 ！🥃🥃🥃

Still a great dram though. Kanpai! 🥃

@@KanpaiPlanet very true. Blew my mind it was only 2300 yen at a grocery store in Osaka for 500ml. 750ml in the US varies between 75 to 200.

Domestic pricing for the win! 💸💸💸

The use of Scotch in some whiskies is not going away. The goal of the standards is to make sure this is not labelled as 'Japanese Whisky'

@@KanpaiPlanet Right. Labeling is one thing. Intrinsic value of Japanese whisky is another. The solid quality aged stocks are depleted. What’s left is marketing and subpar so called premium product. Nose and mouth experience shows that.

It's a great drop. There's a very extended version of my Nikka Whisky From The Barrel Ultimate Guide available to supporters at buymeacoffee.com/kanpaiplanet! Please consider helping this channel. Kanpai!

Hi Anna. Please check the Nikka website: www.nikka.com/eng/brands/coffey-grain-malt/ Subscribe for more. Enjoy, and Kanpai!

No it's not

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