Friday, July 19, 2013

Roaming Tokyo (1): Scouring Retailers


In comparison to large retailers and department stores in Osaka, Tokyo seems to be the place to pick-up something of uniqueness. On a recent roam around the major spots of the area - Shibuya, Shinjuku, and Ikebukuro, I found an abundance of limited Japanese whiskies that are either very hard to find in Kansai or outright not available. Visitors to Japan who have an affectionate interest in Japanese whisky may overlook certain retailers, perhaps with an assumption that limited releases would not be sold in such establishments - however it is always the least expected places you will find something.

First port of call was the SEIBU department store in Shibuya. SEIBU is the equivalent of say Daimaru and is only seen in the Kanto region. Here to my surprise, in the extremely small liquor section, was a store limited release of a Chichibu that was distilled in 2009 and bottled in 2012 from cask#1397 (1st Cask: Bourbon Barrel - 2nd Cask: Port Pipe). This 3yo with an ABV of 61% was introduced last year by SEIBU, and there are literally only a few bottles left as of writing.

A minute down the road from Shibuya SEIBU is the iTOKYU department store, equally just as big as any other major department store with a very interesting selection also. Besides the Yamazaki and Hakushu 25yo (in plenty) and a few Owners Casks the highlight of the department store was Akuto Ichiro’s 20yo Malt & Grain. This store release is very similar to that of the other 20yo Malt & Grain for Isetan but sporting a different label (as seen in the picture). For a 20yo old that contains artisan whisky from both the Hanyu and Kawazaki distillery the asking price of 10,500 yen is a small price to pay. There are not many of these left at iTOKYU however; there is an abundance of Chichibu’s Port Pipe/Chibidaru/and The Peated expressions.

From here I headed to Ikebukuro, mainly as that was where I was staying and wanted to freshen up. First things first, Ikebukuro’s Bic Camera was my priority before a shower and a change. Just like the Namba Bic Camera, single cask vintage Hanyu’s can/could be found here. What I liked about here is there is a whole separate retail store distant from the electronics store purely selling alcohol. These vintage Hanyu’s are not cheap, but why would they be, for those with a taste for Hanyu you may be lucky enough to secure a bottle still. The Ikebukuro SEIBU unfortunately didn’t have anything to write home about except for yet again a half dozen or so of Chichibu’s Port Pipe. 

Once refreshed and energetic I made my way to Shinjuku. No introduction is really needed here - both the Isetan and Takashimaya are in the neighborhood. The former stocking things we are all now fairly familiar with (Karuizawa Brilliant Sherry 12yo and Ichiros "Houou-uhi" blend), while the later was quite similar to that of iTOKYU (Hakshu and Yamazaki 25yo and another abundance of Chichibu’s Port Pipe/Chibidaru). To conclude I would say that Tokyo is a Mecca for store releases and surprisingly good for availability with distillery bottles - prime example the Chichibu Chibidaru official bottling is almost not seen any more in Kansai (Osaka), different story in Kanto, at any given shop I found a handful. There seems to be a bigger presence/portion of Chichibu in the area - I like it. And by the way don’t forget to check every single supermarket you come across, I was rewarded with the find of a sherry Yamazaki Owners Cask of all things. Happy shopping everyone!

6 comments:

  1. You ventured up north! I'll be back to Tokyo in a couple of more weeks. I'm assuming we will see some more stores/shops you visited in your next post.

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    1. Hi Chris (Whiskywall) - its been a while since hearing from you, hope all is well. As you know it will be nice and warm for you in a few weeks. You don't make your way to Kansai do you? As for the next post I'll be venturing away from department stores, might be of interest to you of you are that way soon.

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    2. Unfortunately I don't get down to Kansai. There is just never enough time!

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  2. Great report Clint. I'll be checking out some of those recommendations you have reported on when we are back next year.
    I think the one consistent is that Isetan both in the Kansai region and Tokyo will offer something special.
    I trolled around Bic Camera in Shinjuku after reading a previous post of yours on Bic Camera in Kansai and it was purely electronics in Shinjuku.

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    1. Thanks Brian. It appears not all Bic Camera's stock whisky. Besides the Namba and Ikebukuro Bic Camera I've been told there is a big section in the Nagoya store that have/had the Hanyu vintage malts - it would be interesting to know why these vintages made there way to such an establishment (Bic Camera) - possible sensible promotion. Did you check out the Namba store while you were here in Osaka? As for Shinjuku Bic Camera I'd heard that before from someone but wasn't sure, hence not going there but thanks for clarifying that.

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  3. Didn't go to the Namba BC Clint.

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