Japanese whiskies enter India, just not the ones you've been waiting for

Age statement Japanese whiskies that charmed the world continue to elude Indian buyers. But a taste of them is here

Japanese whiskies are drying up across the world. (People are drinking too much of them.) But Shinji Fukuyo, chief blender at major Japanese whisky maker Suntory Spirits, is busy with an odd assignment: understanding India. How Indians can go from drinking and munching to eating a full meal of spicy curries and back to drinking and munching all within the same night still baffles him and his disciplined colleagues who are touring the country.

The 58-year-old is up and running every morning at 4. “We have to follow a very strict routine to keep our senses sharp,” he says. Perhaps that’s what it takes to understand the collective palate of a population that consumes 48 per cent of the world’s whiskies.

On his sixth visit to India this week, Fukuyo finally unveiled the fruit of his strenuous travels. They are called OakSmith and OakSmith Gold, new blended whiskies which will start retailing in Maharashtra and Telangana for Rs 850 and Rs 1,375, and Rs 650 and Rs 1,100, respectively. OakSmith is a mix of scotch and bourbon and is categorised as an Indian made foreign liquor (IMFL), blended (here comes the pitch) “with Japanese sensibilities” by Fukuro himself. But it’s nothing like what we had hoped for.

Like the rest of the world, we are in urgent need of bottles and bottles of the Yamazaki 12-, 18- and 25-Year-Old expressions from Japan’s oldest distillery, the Yamazaki. Its Sherry Cask expression won whisky connoisseur Jim Murray’s heart in 2015, and subsequently the world’s. We would have also liked a few cases of the Hibiki 21-Year-Old, awarded the Best Blended Whisky for a record sixth time at the World Whiskies Awards this year, and what Murray defined as “unbelievably balanced and dangerously drinkable” in his 2014 Whisky Bible.

Shinji Fukuyo, Suntory’s chief blender at the Yamazaki distillery in Osaka, Japan

Ask the Delhi Duty Free guys and they will tell you how bottles of the Yamazaki 12-Year-Old have a shelf life of five minutes. That’s how fast they go. Nothing Japanese spelled with a Y was available at the travel retail store while writing this story. But do grab a bottle or two of the Japanese Nikka From The Barrel (retailing at Rs 4,840), another jewel from the world of blended whiskies, before it flies off the shelves. Suntory and Nikka command 80 per cent of the spirits market share in Japan and produce some of the best whiskies in the world. 

Neeraj Kumar, India managing director of Beam Suntory, a subsidiary of Suntory Spirits which sells many popular whiskies in India including Jim Beam, Teacher’s and Ardmore, assures me that the age statements of the Yamazaki and the Hibiki will follow. For now, the official launch of the House of Suntory portfolio in India that took place in Gurugram on Tuesday brought the Yamazaki Distiller’s Reserve single malt, the Hibiki Japanese Harmony whisky and a Japanese craft gin, Roku, to the Indian market for the first time.

The Yamazaki’s cherry and mizunara (Japanese oak) notes on the nose, the touch of coconut on the palate and a long finish of cinnamon and vanilla is the stuff of legend. The Hibiki Harmony is more fruity and floral on the nose (think rose, lychee and sandalwood), chocolatey on the palate and has a subtle finish of mizunara. Sounds yummy, but hold on.

The two will retail at select stores in the country for around Rs 20,000 a bottle. But Kumar says that 95 per cent of the stock will go to high-end bars. The unfortunate strategy to make the limited stock count is also an opportunity to taste it Indian style.

Though I would very much, Fukuyo doesn’t mind his Yamazaki whisked into an Old Fashioned. Our serving style is usually a Highball with water or soda, he says. But he understands the trend of single malts ending up in cocktails. “Every country has a way of enjoying their drinks,” he says tolerantly. He means it. I noticed cans of Coca-Cola unabashedly on display on the bar at the launch event.

Roku, the new craft gin, for instance, is delicious in a classic G&T. But George Kumekawa, the representative from Suntory Spirits, who has mastered his gin studies, recommends a Roku gin sonic (soda and tonic) with exactly eight thin strands of ginger. “It’s the best drink to wash down and digest the spicy Indian curries,” he says confidently.

Till the Yamazakis, Hibikis and the Hakushus that have taken the whisky world by storm honour us with their presence, enjoy the new portfolio from Suntory. In a cocktail, if you must.