Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Osaka Whisky Festival 2012 Report - Part 2



While on the domestic theme, I was intrigued at the popularity in which Japanese whiskies were receiving from the locals. Throughout the day of festivities, for obvious reasons, I spent a lot of time around the booths of the Japanese brands. This was interesting, as I was not only amongst the spirit of which I have a passion for but in doing  so provided a good insight, or a better perspective of how Japanese people perceive their domestically distilled spirit.

It is safe to say that people at these types of events generally have an interest in whisky, some perhaps more than others, and lets face it, they wouldn’t be there otherwise. But the genuine interest the Japanese brands received from the locals was outstanding, and in particular the interest Ichiro-san’s small but constantly busy stand received. Focus was purely on the recent edition of the Black Label Malt & Grain blend, which again, locals took a lot of interest in. Whether it’s the hype, awards received, or the general love of the spirit, all three bottles on the pedestal (Floor Malted, Black and White Label Malt & Grain Blends) generated appeal and kept most people happy. Akuto-san also had a 25-year-old single cask available at 500 yen and a very interesting 33-year-old Malt & Grain blend available for tasting at 1,000 yen. I was expecting a little more from the stand in all honesty, more in the sense of variety, more to sample, but I guess there is not much more that could have been presented as a lot of bottlings are now unavailable.

Next door to Akuto-san was Kirin’s relatively small stand. They were throwing some sort of demonstration showing the effectiveness of marrying their Gotemba Fujisanroku label with brewed tea. The flagship Fujisanroku, both the blend and the 18-year-old single malt was the only two whiskies on their stand, no other house blends cluttered up the table. I welcomed this as I never had the pleasure of indulging in the 18-year-old, purely because I was never willing to lay down the arguable pricey fee of both a full bottle and a dram at a bar. However, I may have to think this over again. The 18-year-old has received mixed reviews over the years but it is one of the few malts that have constantly been on my mind since the festival. Huge dollops of fresh whipped cream and homemade jam on heavily buttered fresh scones engulfed my senses when consuming it (thankfully, a healthy measure in my glass). Although their stand was what it was, hats off to Kirin Gotemba for their imaginative promo materials (catalogues), the best I have seen from any distillery to date.

Part 3 (final and lengthy post) is in the transition from paper to computer. Stay tuned.

7 comments:

  1. Kind of interesting that Ichiro didn't bring "prospective bottlings" or "works in progress" like he did at Whisky Live a few months ago. Those were a real revelation but then again it's kind of an expensive promotion strategy because everyone who went to the booth wanted to sample all 6 of those "possible bottlings", plus some others from his standard range ... that quickly makes 10 samplings per person! I hope you tried the 33 yo - he usually brings that to events ((it's exorbitantly expensive - close to 100,000 yen for a bottle) so a chance to sample that at 1,000 yen is a golden opportunity! It's sublime!

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  2. I was expecting, well hoping perhaps is a better word that he would have had "perspective bottlings", especially learning of what he took to the Tokyo festival, which you mentioned. As I said the booth was small in scale, perhaps a different approach this time around which may have been more suitable to Osaka? Oh....I didn't realize the 33-year-old was 100,000 a bottle....now I'm kicking myself I left it to the end of the festival, thinking I'll leave on top note, but then after having as many drams as I did I left the building without tasting it. But there are two more opportunities I believe I will have (more on that later), so not to worry for now.

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  3. Two more opportunities? Do tell... Are those events in the Kansai area?

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    1. Stefan, I will tell, can I get you to kindly wait a bit as I want to put them up in a post instead of just a comment. Thanks.

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  4. How was the Bowmore 1994 specially bottled for the Festival? Did you try that one...
    Sorry to bombard you with so many questions.

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    1. Not a problem at all. Ready for a shock......? I'm not a Bowmore fan, an Islay fan certainly, but excluding Bowmore. Although specially bottled for the festival, it was the last thing on my mind throughout the day..... Like many malts, it passed completely.

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  5. Interesting! I love most Islay malts (with a preference for Caol Ilas from the early 80s), but somehow Ardbeg just doesn't do it for me.

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