{"id":1972,"date":"2012-04-08T17:55:13","date_gmt":"2012-04-08T08:55:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2012-04-08\/1972"},"modified":"2012-04-08T17:55:13","modified_gmt":"2012-04-08T08:55:13","slug":"japans-first-whisky-suntorys-yamazaki-distillery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2012-04-08\/1972","title":{"rendered":"Japan’s First Whisky: Suntory’s “Yamazaki” Distillery"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
\nNOTE<\/b>: Images with an icon next to them have been artificially shrunk to better fit your screen; click the icon to restore them, in place, to their regular size.\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Voigtl\u00e4nder 125mm f\/2.5 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>320 sec, f<\/span>\/2.5, ISO 1000 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nSuntory “Yamazaki” Single Malt Whisky<\/span>\nfreebies in the distillery's tasting room\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>400 sec, f<\/span>\/1.4, ISO 1250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nTour<\/span>\nSuntory “Yamazaki” Whisky Distillery<\/b>\nJapan's first whisky distillery\nSouthern Kyoto Prefecture, Japan\n<\/div>\n\n

I recently had the pleasure to tour Suntory's “Yamazaki” whisky distillery, 20 minutes by train south of Kyoto.\nDating from 1923, it's the oldest whisky distillery in Japan. (Wikipedia<\/a>\n· home page<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n

Suntory uses the British “Whisky” spelling, rather than the Irish\/American “Whiskey”, so I'll do the same in this post.<\/p>\n\n

20 years ago I used to drive by the front gates every day on my commute\nto and from work, and the smell was amazing. I'm not a<\/span> particular fan of\nwhisky's taste, but the smell of it being produced is rich and heavenly,\nand those few seconds driving by each day were well enjoyed. I toured<\/span> the\ndistillery once many years ago, but with California friend Paul Barr in\ntown this month, took the tour again with him.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>400 sec, f<\/span>\/1.4, ISO 2200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nSpirit Still<\/span>\n#5\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/1.4, ISO 6400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nHeaven<\/span>\nif you like whisky\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Voigtl\u00e4nder 125mm f\/2.5 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>20 sec, f<\/span>\/2.5, ISO 6400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nTeenager<\/span>\n13 Years Old\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>40 sec, f<\/span>\/1.4, ISO 6400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nOn Display<\/span>\nWhisky barrels with glass front and back\non display before a large lightbox\n<\/div>\n\n

When first seeing the cask display with glass front and back, you're thrown for a bit<\/span> of a loop<\/span> because\nof the reflection in the mirror-smooth top of the standing whisky, and it takes a few<\/span> seconds for an understanding to “click”.\nJudging from the reaction of the guide and others on the tour, this momentary confusion is common, and fun,\nwhich is why I put<\/span> up a photo<\/span> of it<\/a> as one of my\n“What am I?” quizzes<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>25 sec, f<\/span>\/1.4, ISO 6400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nReflection<\/span>\nInside of a whisky cask reflected in the still surface of its aging contents\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/1.4, ISO 6400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nTour Continues<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/1.4, ISO 5000 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nSiblings<\/span>\n10 years apart\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>15 sec, f<\/span>\/1.4, ISO 6400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nN\u00ba 0001<\/span>\nCirca 1924\n<\/div>\n\n

I wouldn't be surprised if it's not actually the first cask, but an\nimpostor on display for the tour. Chatting with the guide later after the\ntour was done, he mentioned that at rare times they offer 60-year-old\nwhisky for sale for a million<\/span> yen a bottle<\/span> (about US$12,000), and that it\nalways sells out immediately. Cask #1 is much older, but even at the price\nscale of the young 60-year-old stuff, the barrel would be worth more than\n$8,300,000, so it seems risky to leave it exposed.<\/p>\n\n

You can tell that the label has been painted over (you can see faded\nwriting under the white portions of the label), and the end has words\ncarved in it: “LACAVEY<\/small>Co<\/sup>\nCADIZ”<\/span>. That's certainly LaCave\n& Company from Cadiz, Spain<\/a>, which well predates Suntory. Maybe\nSuntory didn't have its own casks early on, so reused old ones from\nimported whisky, in which case maybe this really is<\/i> the first cask.\nPerhaps next time I visit<\/span> I should<\/span> have a taste,<\/span> just to check. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>25 sec, f<\/span>\/1.4, ISO 6400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n3001<\/span>\nin B&W\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/1.4, ISO 560 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nFreebies<\/span>\nin the tasting room at the end of the tour\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>400 sec, f<\/span>\/1.4, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nMy and Paul's Freebies<\/span>\nmini photo session with the 10-year-old youngling\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Voigtl\u00e4nder 125mm f\/2.5 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/8, ISO 2800 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n12-Year-Old, Straight<\/span>\nstopped down a bit on the aperture to bring out the writing in the background\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Voigtl\u00e4nder 125mm f\/2.5 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>320 sec, f<\/span>\/2.5, ISO 1000 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nUp Close and Personal<\/span>\n“Moody” seems the be the way to go with whisky\n<\/div>\n\n

This reminds me of this great scene<\/a> from\nthe movie “Lost in Translation<\/i>”. It's hilarious<\/span> if you understand\nthe Japanese, though I can<\/span> only imagine it's even more funny if, like Bill Murray, you can't.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Voigtl\u00e4nder 125mm f\/2.5 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>320 sec, f<\/span>\/2.5, ISO 2000 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nPaul's Turn<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Voigtl\u00e4nder 125mm f\/2.5 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>320 sec, f<\/span>\/2.5, ISO 2200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nExplanation<\/span>\nof the various items for sale in the gift shop\n<\/div>\n\n

The tour is free, so if you're in town and interested in whisky or some\nmoody photography (or both), it's perhaps worth a trip<\/span> down on the train.<\/p>\n\n

Continued here...<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I recently had the pleasure to tour Suntory's \"Yamazaki\" whisky distillery, 20 minutes by train south of Kyoto. Dating from 1923, it's the oldest whisky distillery in Japan. (Wikipedia - home page)<\/p>

Suntory uses the British \"Whisky\" spelling, rather than the Irish\/American \"Whiskey\", so I'll do the same in this post.<\/p>

20 years ago I used to drive by the front gates every day on my commute to and from work, and the smell was amazing. I'm not a particular fan of whisky's taste, but the smell of it being produced is rich and heavenly, and those few seconds driving [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1972"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1972"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1972\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}