![]() ![]() World Whisky Ao (Photo credit: The House of Suntory) Additionally, the company increased its Japan storage capacity by 50 percent at the end of 2022 as compared to 2016. It also halted sale of Hakushu 12 Years Old but brought it back in 2021. The House of Suntory’s response has been to stop selling the blended 17-year-old Hibiki in 2018. “We have been running at full capacity for the last 20 years,” a Suntory executive said. But unlike a spirit like gin, an award-winning Hakushu 25 Years Old takes 25 years to make. More accolades followed, and more people clamoured for Japanese whisky. When whisky critic Jim Murray named Yamazaki Sherry Cask 2013 as the 2015 World Whiskey of the Year, global demand skyrocketed. ![]() The 30-plus years of downturn reversed abruptly around the mid-2010s. The first Yamazaki single malt was released in 1984, more than 20 years after Torii’s death. Competitors like Nikka, Hanyu, and Karuizawa followed, and Torii’s successor, Keizo Saji set up the Chita and Hakushu distilleries in the early 1970s to make grain and peated whiskies. Local demand for Western liquors was thriving back then, and he opened Yamazaki Distillery in 1923 to make whisky based on a philosophy of monozukuri, which prioritises relentless perfection, attention to detail, and high quality. The House of Suntory’s first hit was not whisky, but sweet wine, which Torii created in 1907. Yamazaki Distillery (Photo credit: The House of Suntory) How The House of Suntory invented Japanese whisky Today, the same liquid in Singapore is S$379, if you can even find it. In 2011, I saw bottles of Yamazaki’s 12-year-old single malt discounted to US$40 (SG$54) at a supermarket in the US. In 2018, a slightly younger 50-year-old Yamazaki fetched US$300,000 (S$406,000) in Hong Kong. One example was auctioned off in Amsterdam for more than a million Singapore dollars. In 2020, the brand released Yamazaki 55 Years Old, currently the world’s oldest Japanese whisky, at an initial price of JP¥3.3 million (S$30,000). If he had any clue to how successful his spirits have become, he might have laid out the path entirely in gold. It has been 100 years since Suntory founder Shinjiro Torii established Yamazaki with the goal of making premium Japanese whisky. A disused pot still, its black coat as moody as the grey March sky, points to the birthplace of Japanese whisky. After a brief walk through a charmingly quaint village, a chimney peeks out from behind budding spring trees. At a local okonomiyaki restaurant, bottles of The House of Suntory’s illustrious whiskies are tucked away on a high shelf. ![]() Discreet signs around the station direct people where to go. NV, Jim Beam Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, 100 Months Old, 40%, 1986 bottling, full bottle, sealed in W.& A.R.R.It first requires a 30-minute train ride from Japan’s historic capital of Kyoto, and it gradually unfurls from there. NV, Jim Beam Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, 100 Months Old, 40%, 1984 bottling, full bottle, sealed in Jersey & Western Railway Lumber Car regal china decanter (1 750 ml) NV, Jim Beam Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, 100 Months Old, 40%, 1983 bottling, full bottle, sealed in Jersey & Western Railway Tanker Car regal china decanter (1 750 ml) NV, Jim Beam Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, 100 Months Old, 40%, 1983 bottling, full bottle, sealed in Jersey & Western Railway Boxcar regal china decanter (1 750 ml) NV, Jim Beam Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, 100 Months Old, 40%, 1982 bottling, full bottle, sealed in Water Tower regal china decanter (1 750 ml) Turner Locomotive regal china decanter (1 750 ml) NV, Jim Beam Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, 100 Months Old, 40%, 1982 bottling, full bottle, sealed in J.B. NV, Jim Beam Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, 150 Months Old, 40%, 1980 bottling, full bottle, sealed in New Jersey Central Caboose regal china decanter (1 750 ml) Buyers may make arrangements including an in-person auction house pick-up or designating a third party to complete delivery of purchased lots. The buyer acknowledges that he/she takes possession of purchased lots upon the fall of the hammer. The buyer acknowledges that he/she is acting within compliance with their state and local laws in regards to the purchase, transportation and delivery of spirituous liquors. Train car decanters sold may have minor chips, discolorations or small pieces detached/missing. ![]()
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