Helliyers Road

I've tried many whiskies from around the world but none from Australia. Being from Australia I thought that it was high time I rectified that. My two Australian friends David and Dean brought me a bottle each of Tasmanian whisky while there were visiting Tokyo. Both are married to Japanese wives and have children. So before they came up they asked if I wanted them to bring me anything. I asked for some Australian whisky and to help them along with that request I suggested a bottle of Helliyers Road. Helliyers Road is the largest distillery in Tasmania and is owned by the Betta Milk company. Dean bought be the Helliyers Road Pinot Noir and David bought me the Original. They are both unchilled filtered and no colouring added and at a presentable 46% alcohol. I look forward to trying these at a later stage. The original is a light yellow colour whilst the Pinot Noir has a light amber. In other words both the same whisky but the Pinot Noir has been finished in "premium pinot noir casks".

Helliyers Road Pinot Noir and Helliyers Road Original

Tasting rules at Liquors Hasegawa revision

I translated the rules of Liquors Hasegawa's sample tasting in an old post.

Liquors Hasegawa Previous Tasting Rules

Since that time I've seen an increase in customers tasting. Due to the increase of tasting customers, especially during busy times, Liquor Hasegawa has revised the rules. These rules will come into effect April 20th, 2013. You can see the new tasting rules here.

Liquors Hasegawa Tasting Rules Revision (Japanese)

I have translated the rules into English.

• Tasting service is offered in order to help with your purchasing selection. No “standing drinking” allowed.

• Those that are drunk will be refused tasting service.

• Only 5 tasting samples per day.

• You can taste two samples at a time.

• The tasting fee will be settled per tasting.

• During busy times you may be asked to make way. Keeping a standing place is not possible.

• Bringing bottled water is fine but do not place it on the serving table.

• You cannot taste the same product twice. Even on different days.

• Tasting service will end 15 minutes before closing.

• As the store is narrow, please be mindful of other customers.

Still drinking. Just not so regualrly...

It’s been a while since I posted anything whisky related but that doesn’t mean I’ve lost interest. On the contrary, I’m just as interested in whisky and try and attend as many events as I can. For example, I’ll be attending the Tokyo International Bar Show 2013, which includes Whisky Live 2013. Having said that however, I try and drink less and keep my enjoyment of whisky in moderation. All that means is that I’ll try and post up news and information when I can. So check in now and again for the latest information on my whisky journey.

TIBS 2013

Whisky Live 2013 

Clynelish and Springbank

I was going to write a little bit about these two bottles I tried at Liquors Hasegawa but I lost my notes on them. So I'll just make a brief comment about them. The first picture is an independent bottling of Clynelish. If I seem to recall, it had a musty smell which I didn't really enjoy. The second picture is of cask strength Springbank 12. A very nice whisky which I later bought a bottle of. I'll review it and post some tasting notes soon.

Whisky Festival 2012 in Tokyo

On December 2nd 2012, I attended the Whisky Festival 2012 in Tokyo with my beer and whisky friends Tom and Steve. This event is organized by the Scotch Whisky Research Center. It was a chilly but nice and sunny day. I met up with my friends outside Kinshicho station before the festival opened at 11am. There were many interesting things to try and we wasted no time in doing that. Some of the companies that had booths on the day included MHD Japan, Pernod Ricard, Remy Cointreau Japan, Suntory, Nikka (Asahi), Berry Borther's and Rudd, and retailers Liquors Hasegawa and Shinanoya. We tried many of the whisky they had on offer at nearly all of the booths. I was particularly interested in trying out Shinanoya's bottling of Karuizawa 31 to commemorate the 5th anniversary of their Shinanoya Private Cask range. I was practically first in line when they started handing out samples at 12pm sharp. It was an excellent whisky which showcased its long maturation with a heavenly aroma and sublime flavor. I also got to try Shinanoya's special bottling of Ichiro's Malt Hanyu 12 which was also a treat. Of course we couldn't leave without sampling some Suntory Yamazaki 18 and a few card series from Ichiro's Malts.

Whisky enthusiasts everywhere!

Special Bottling for order at the Shinanoya booth.

Blackadder Friendship Day

Blackadder is an independent whisky bottler that is famous for its "Raw Cask" range. On November 29th 2012, Liquors Hasegawa held a Blackadder Friendship Day from 4pm to 9pm. Usually Liquors Hasegawa stops paid tasting service at 8pm but on this day they extended the time to 9pm. Blackadder Friendship day was a good time to meet one of the founders of Blackadder, Robin Tucek, to discuss all things whisky and also to promote his new bottling called Black Snake VAT No. 1 First Venom.



My fellow beer and whisky friends Tom, Bob and Chuck joined me in the early afternoon to meet with Robin and to have a few whisky tastings. After trying a few sherried and peated single malts we met up with Robin.  He is very enthusiastic about whisky and was happy to talk about the industry and whisky.

He gave us samples of First Venom which is bottled at a whopping 59.1%. It is a solera style whisky which means that whisky is slowly taken out of the cask and then replaced with new whisky. This process is used extensively in such drinks as sherry, port and balsamic vinegar. I don't think it is widely used with whisky but there are some examples of it around such as Glenfiddich Solera Reserve 15 Years Old. First Venom was fresh, a little new but very drinkable. Robin explained to us that using the solrea method means that subsequent batches of Venom will be different from the last one.

Robin Tucek of Blackadder

Shinanoya Shinjuku

I had a little time off before my next class so headed to Shinanoya Shinjuku store to check out their whisky range. This shop is in the heart of Kabukicho entertainment area. Kabukicho is know for its many bars and drinking places and I'm sure Shinanoya supplies them with their liquor needs. It also supplies thirsty customers too.

Not only do they sell whisky but they also sell an assortment of foods and drinking equipment. Glencairn whisky glasses can be purchased for 900 yen or you can by a set of 6 copita tasting glasses for a little over 2000 yen. This makes it one of the cheapest places to get the appropriate glasswear to enjoy whisky. The whisky range is extremely good with a few bottles of Caol Ila unpeated on sale.

Shinanoya also have quite a collection of store exclusive bottlings as well. For example they have a exclusive bottling on sale very soon of Karuizawa 31 in which only 228 bottles were made. It can be yours for 27,900 yen. A more affordable Ichiro's Malt Hanyu 12 which only 308 bottles are available can be had for 8980 yen. As for myself, I couldn't resist a whisky flavoured Christmas pudding for Christmas.  Highly recommended for getting some good whiskies or just window shopping if you are in the area.

Shinanoya's homepage

Shinanoya's English website

This is what I'll be having after Christmas dinner.

 

Shinanoya's extensive range of whisky.