11 Essential Bottles of Japanese Whisky [Timeline]

The history of Japanese whisky isn’t quite as convoluted as other spirits categories. It’s just misunderstood. The category crept into the collective American consciousness right around the time of the brown spirits revival in the early aughts, thanks in part to Bill Murray’s iconic ad-within-a-film catchphrase “For relaxing times, make it Suntory time” in the 2003 movie “Lost in Translation.” Its rapid, if not abrupt, ascension in popularity in the following years made it appear as a contemporary creation to the average consumer.

This is not the case. Japanese whisky’s timeline begins a little over a century ago. In fact, movies prove the category has been around longer than some people think. Long before “Lost in Translation” splashed on the silver screen, James Bond set aside his “shaken, not stirred” Martini to sip Suntory and soda in the 1967 film “You Only Live Twice.” This scene happened some 43 years after Japan’s first whisky distillery opened its doors.

Of course, the intrigue behind Japanese whisky’s evolution over the decades extends well beyond a pair of cinematic references. The category began as an earnest and serious attempt to replicate Scottish distilling techniques; and its maturity into a distinctive global powerhouse can be tracked through a few specific bottles.

Unlike rum or gin, where a wide range of distilleries collectively push the respective narrative forward, the Japanese whisky timeline primarily relies on just a handful of distilleries to move things along. Yet as the following bottles demonstrate, there can sometimes be great beauty in such simplicity.

1929: The First-Ever Japanese Whisky Hits the Market
Bottle: Suntory Shirofuda

Japanese whisky owes its existence to two pioneers: Shinjiro Torii and Masataka Taketsuru. Torii, a pharmaceutical wholesaler and entrepreneur intrigued by wines and Western-style spirits, established a little company called Suntory in 1899 with the intention of producing Western libations suitable for Eastern palates. In 1923, he realized his ultimate ambition by building Japan’s first-ever distillery, Yamazaki. He hired Taketsuru, a young man who studied the ways of Scotch distilling in Glasgow after World War I, to make the juice. His handiwork landed on shelves in 1929 in the form of Suntory Shirofuda, which roughly translates into “white label.” Its sharp, smoky essence did not connect with Japanese consumers, and it failed. This seed of failure would nonetheless lead to successful blooms down the road.

1937: Suntory Breaks Through
Bottle: Suntory Kakubin

Torii wasn’t just a curious entrepreneur. He’s also regarded as Japan’s first master blender. He leaned into this skill set after Shirofuda’s flop, spending years softening the whisky’s smoky essence to make it more palatable. His tinkering led to the release of the lighter, more approachable Suntory Kakubin, an unpretentious bottle whose name derived from its distinctive square bottle shape (the word kakubin is Japanese for “square bottle.”) His new formula worked. Kakubin was a hit, and it would eventually be the foundation for the Japanese whisky highball trend in the 1950s.

1940: A Rivalry Launches a Legendary Brand
Bottle: Nikka Whisky

Most people consider Taketsuru to be the “Father of Japanese Whisky,” but you won’t see Taketsuru’s name mentioned on Suntory’s website. There’s a reason for this. By 1934, Torii and Taketsuru’s relationship had soured over creative differences, and Taketsuru left Suntory to start his own company, Dai Nippon Kaju, and build his own distillery, Yoichi. Taketsuru’s new business produced apple juice while he waited for his new whisky to age. The wait was over in 1940, and the first bottles of Nikka whisky became available to the masses. The brand proved to have staying power — so much so, Taketsuru changed the name of his company to Nikka Whisky Distilling Co. in 1952.

1963: The Coffey Still Lands in Japan
Bottle: Nikka Coffey Grain Whisky

Taketsuru’s interest in Scottish distilling techniques never ceased. This fascination compelled him to install Japan’s first Coffey still at his company’s Nishinomiya Plant in 1963. He’d install a second one three years later. It was far from a technological innovation — Aeneas Coffey invented his eponymous continuous column still in 1830 — but its ability to efficiently produce high-quality grain whisky helped Nikka explode in both growth and popularity. While the juice coming off the stills was excellent, it was strictly used for blends for decades. Nikka finally gave the liquid its star turn in 2012 with the release of its Nikka Coffey Grain Whisky label, and it was met with near-universal acclaim.

1984: Japan Goes Single (Malt)
Bottle: Yamazaki Pure Malt Whisky

Suntory was a known commodity in Japan in the 1980s, but its whisky was primarily used as a mixer in the Japanese whisky highballs voraciously consumed among the Japanese salaryman culture. Part of the reputation was built on production, as Suntory’s whiskies were proprietary blends. The 1984 release of Yamazaki disrupted this narrative. Created by the Yamazaki distillery’s master blender and Torii’s son, Keizo Saji, the 100 percent barley single malt expression successfully lifted Suntory to a more elevated plane. It also set the table for a strong string of sophisticated Suntory-backed bottles to follow.

1989: Suntory Rolls the Dice
Bottle: Suntory Hibiki

Whisky was in sharp decline in Japan when the ’80s were coming to a close. A stagnating economy and a growing interest in beer and shochu among the younger generation combined to cripple the distilling industry, causing some spaces to shutter and others to reduce production. Suntory was in the latter camp, and it could have easily kept its head down and rode the storm out as best it could. Instead, it had the audacity to launch Hibiki. It was a bold move in retrospect: Not only did Suntori release a new label during a dark time in the industry, but it released a blend just five years after charting a new course with a single-malt expression. Hibiki’s release wasn’t exactly a random shot in the dark — it made the label to celebrate Suntory’s 90th anniversary and to highlight the harmony and craftsmanship within the art of blending. It proved to be the right decision, as Hibiki currently stands tall as one of the category’s most lauded and sought-after expressions.

2005: The Collectors Get Involved
Bottle: Ichiro’s Malt Card Series

In 2000, the industry’s ongoing economic woes finally proved to be too much for Hanyu Distillery, and it was forced to close its doors after 59 years of operation. One problem: It was still sitting on stocks of blended whisky when it shuttered, and Hanyu’s reputation for producing some of Japan’s most uniquely delicious whiskies made unceremoniously dumping the leftover juice a non-option. Fortunately, the company Venture Whisky snapped up the stocks. The company tapped Ichiro Akuto, grandson of Hanyu’s founder Isouji Akuto, to create something with them, and he blended the barrels and released the results under the label Ichiro’s Malt. In 2005, Ichiro released the Card Series, a line of playing card-themed bottles consisting of Hanyu blends from a single year finished in different casks. The bottles struck a nerve within the burgeoning collector scene, and they proved Japanese whisky could stand toe-to-toe with other established luxury categories. The Ichiro’s Malt project proved to be so successful, it allowed Ichiro to launch his own distillery, Chichibu, in 2008.

2011: Bourbon Enters the Chat
Bottle: Mars Iwai Whisky

It was not uncommon for Japanese distilleries to utilize American oak barrels for their whisky production. At the same time, they really never leaned into any potential symbiosis that could exist between Japanese and American whiskey categories. In 2011, Mars Whisky decided to embrace it with full force through the release of its bourbon-inspired Iwai label. Using a corn-heavy mash bill and aged in ex-Kentucky bourbon barrels, Iwai captured attention and awards for a process that essentially takes an existing idea — in this case bourbon production — and filtering it through Japanese precision and craftsmanship. In doing so, it expanded the ideas of what Japanese distilling was capable of creating.

2016: Beam-Suntory Aims High
Bottle: Suntory Toki

In 2014, Suntory shelled out a whopping $16 billion to acquire American distilling company Beam, Inc., creators of legendary bottles like Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark. The purchase formed a new company, Beam-Suntory, and sent shockwaves throughout the industry, leaving people to speculate what the combined powers would do for their first act. The answer? Suntory Toki, a light, refreshing whisky that hearkened back to the proprietary Suntory blends of yore. Toki’s easy, delicate nature instantly made it the conduit to deliver traditional Japanese highball culture to the American drinking masses, something that’s continued to gain traction amid the advent of Japanese bar culture.

2019: East Meets West
Bottle: Legent Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Beam-Suntory’s formation raised more than a few eyebrows, but it also created a distilling environment where things could get delightfully weird. The 2019 release of the company’s Legent label demonstrated it wasn’t afraid to use its clout to push boundaries. The initial bottle featured a trio of bourbons distilled by Jim Beam’s legendary master distiller Fred Noe and combined by Suntory’s heralded master blender Shinji Fukuyo. The collaboration alone made the bottles noteworthy, and it also made it fun to speculate how such partnerships may change the course of Japanese whisky in the future. It turned out we’d have our answer soon enough.

2019: The World Gets Involved
Bottle: Suntory World Whisky Ao

Bringing the U.S. and Japan together turned out to be just the start of Beam-Suntory’s experimental voodoo. In April 2019, one month after dropping Legent, the company launched Ao to essentially answer the question, “What would a Japanese whisky produced by a supergroup taste like?” The bottle blended whiskies sourced from the world’s five most prominent whiskey-producing regions: Japan, the U.S., Ireland, Scotland, and Canada. It’s a bit of a whisky Frankenstein, and it may cause some folks to argue whether or not it should be classified as a Japanese whisky. But even if one argues against its inclusion, there’s still no denying the concept of Japanese whisky has come a long way from that first bottle of Suntory Shirofuda.

*Image retrieved from Pecold – stock.adobe.com

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