What the New Japanese Whisky Regulations Actually Mean for Collectors
Japanese whisky being made in Japan is a great idea. But for some it’s beside the point.
Bottles of Suntory Holdings Ltd.'s Hakushu, Yamazaki, and Hibiki whisky lines.
Photographer: Akio Kon/Bloomberg
What is Japanese whisky?
Despite its meteoric rise on the global connoisseur market, until this week that question was more complicated to answer than you might suspect. Unlike bourbon and Scotch—born of the U.S. and Scotland, respectively—the preferred brown spirit of Japan carried no actual denomination of origin. As long as the liquor was bottled within the country, it could be sourced from anywhere on the planet.