According to yumedia - the creative people behind the magazine Whisky World and whisky events, attendance
at the Osaka Whisky Festival 2013, which was held on July 7, saw roughly 2,500
people walk through the door. Last year, the attendance was a little shy of
1,500 people, and it is expected the number to attend next year’s 2014 festival
will further increase. Quite a positive result considering this was only the
second time for the event to take place in Kansai - hats off to the organizers
for their choice of the new location (Umeda Sky Building). This
year’s event was a little different for me, usually I get to roam free and indulge
among the smorgasbord of whisky from various makers and chat to industry
figures. However, this time around I was pushing whisky so to speak opposed to
consuming. Nevertheless, what fun would it be if it was all work and no play! I
managed to venture away, mingle, and have fun - after all it was a festival.
Belated
highlights: On the domestic front there are no new products to report on. It
appears Japanese brands tend to showcase their new products by using Tokyo
(events) as their promoting platform. Still, we all had the pleasure of having
the company of Hombo Shuzo - Mars, who like always, were receiving tremendous
interest in there Iwai Wine Cask Finish blend. For those interested in the
delicious Iwai Wine Cask Finish and live in Kansai, a limited quantity will be
making its way to a few shops in Osaka around mid July. Also, good news for us
Mars fans, Hombo Shuzo have a few new expressions to add to their portfolio in
coming time, and once that happens I hope to be able to shed more light on
them.
Along
with Mars, another favourite maker of mine made its way to Osaka - Akuto-san
from Chichibu with his distillery crew and new member in tow: Yumi, who has recently
just come back to Japan (May) from her long stint at Highlander Inn. As with Whisky Live the Chichibu prototypes were on
offer - again the Refill Barrel appearing to be the favourite among aficionados. Perhaps
one of the tell tale stories of the day, well two in fact, the first would be
that of Suntory’s Yamazaki 1993 Owners Cask. This delicate smoky little gem
according to staff made its way to Whisky Shop W on the Monday after the event ,
a mere 40 bottles at the time but it appears there are only a few left, so it
may pay to rush in if you have a soft spot for smoky Yama’s - presuming there
is any at all left.
The second would be that of a private release
which I mentioned in my July 4 post, nothing overly secretive as many knew of
it, well by “many” I mean people who are on certain mailing lists. This release
would be that of a 14yo Karuizawa, which was unfortunately not officially on display
and therefore not openly available for tasting to the majority of attendees.
This Karuizawa, which is very tasty I must say, is from cask# 2316. It is a
joint bottling from three well established retailers - Liquors Hasegawa, Sake
Shop Sato and Tamagawaya and will be available or should I say released in
August (Japan only).
For any reason some of you didn’t make it
to WFO 2013 you may be delighted to know Osaka will host yet another event in October - Whisky History Osaka 2013. Here you will be able to try equally just as many
whiskies and experience all the major brands and retailers under the one roof. Whisky
festivities are still upon us in Kansai and like last year Whisky History 2013
will be held at Umeda Kensyu Centre on October 6 (Sunday). It is my guess there
will be some decent limited releases available for pre-order here also. Whiskies
R Us will provide further details closer to the date.
Great day out. I also thought there wasnt as much new new and interesting stuff compared to last year but it didnt matter as it was an accessible festival, with something for everyone. Everyone I spoke to really enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteI like that David - "something for everyone". This event will most likely get bigger and better as time progresses. Keep your eyes out for Whisky History Osaka 2013 info coming up.
DeleteActually, even at TIBS/WL Tokyo there isn't a lot on display that is new from the big players in the Japanese whisky scene, Nikka/Suntory. Always nice to see Hombo Shuzo(Mars) and Venture(Chichibu/Hanyu) bringing their A game though, which is great for those in Kansai who have neither the time or inclination to head up to Tokyo for those other events.
ReplyDeleteI like that Brian - "their A game". Something Hombo Shuzo (Mars) and Venture Whisky (Hanyu/Chichibu) often do. And yes, this is great for Kansai residents to be able to experience all this without the time or inclination to head into Tokyo. As I mentioned, I presume the Osaka event will get bigger and better, this is evident, and therefore it may just mean that Osaka will get equal exposure to releases just as Tokyo events do. Makers seem very happy to travel to Kansai, perhaps the idea of makers showcasing new products in Tokyo basically boils down to the fact the most major events are in Kanto first?
DeleteA bit more from Yamazaki would be nice seeing as its a 'home' fixture for them
ReplyDeleteI guess that may come at a later date, meaning when all the 2013 Yama cask expressions come out I.e the Mizunara cask which is on its way shortly, along with things like Whisky Shop Ws anniversary Yama bottling 2013 bottling. With thid there will be a bit more on the 'home" front then I would say. I presume it would be hard to primarily focus just on products from Yamazaki given this factor - different products at different intervals, this plus being a brand with such a diverse port folio it wouldn't pay to focus just on home. But you are right though, at a festival such as the above being so close to home, perhaps a bit more emphasis on the distillery would go down a treat with the locals. The Owners Cask Yama certain did all the right things, many locals I know secured a bottle of that. Cheers.
Delete