The Rise, Fall, and Rise of Japanese Whisky (& Suntory) 

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I work for suntory and often give "the history of japanese whisky" talk, you did a fantastic job and I even learned a few things I didn't know. Well done.

Here in Japan, ハイボール _(haibouru)_ means specifically a whiskey soda, rather than having the more general meaning that it does in English. The general meaning is known, however; shouchu mixed with a mixer is called a "chu-hi," which is said to be short for "shouchu highball." I'd not known that Suntory bought Jim Beam. That explains why Jim Beam highballs, specifically, are now so widely advertised in bars and restaurants here, about as often as Suntory whisky highballs now.

Excellent video! Glad you included Taketsuru and his wife in your research. An "asadora" that dramatized Taketsuru's contributions to Nikka Whiskey (now part of Asahi, rival to Suntory) was broadcast by NHK over a 6 month period in 2014 and 2015 and it was a HUUUGE TV hit in Japan. That drama raised awareness even in Japan of the high quality whiskeys made both by Suntory and Nikka. As you mentioned, in Suntory's early days, Taketsuru decided to go independent from Suntory, but the Suntory president was very generous and even invested in Taketsuru's next endeavor. The TV drama really made high end Nikka and Suntory whiskeys very hard to find in Japan because they were continually selling out. Rita, who was Scottish, endured tremendous challenges during the war years because she was seen as an enemy but she stuck with Taketsuru until her death in Japan in 1961. As some commented below, if you can find a gal like Rita to be your wife, you will be a very lucky guy. Taketsuru would not have succeeded without her support.

Everyone should have a person like Rita in their lives. I hope I will

The court of king lebron james of Scotland?

Slight correction: Suntory's original location was in the Nishi district of Osaka, not Nishi-Shinjuku in Tokyo. Torii wanted the distillery closer to major cities like Osaka and Tokyo because it took like three days to get to Hokkaido back then.

I love the probably apocryphal story that because the shape of the still is so important to the taste of the final product, early Japanese producers replicated the shape of the macallan stills down to the dents. I just wish I could still afford any Japanese whisky - prices have risen five-fold since I started drinking it 15 years ago. Yamazaki 18 is one of my all time favourites - it consistently came top in our blind tests.

Great overview! Glad you mentioned the importance of Lost in Translation- it’s absolutely the first thing I think of when I hear “suntory whiskey”!

What a great video! I lived in Yoichi, Hokkaido from 2014 - 2017 and the Nikka Whiskey distillery played a big part in the local community. This video was a lovely trip down memory lane, thanks!

Never ever imagined that Asianometry will anytime make a video about... Whiskey. The breadth of topics covered by this channel will never stop to surprise me.

Different than all the recent videos on technology, but interesting nonetheless.

This was really interesting, I love these kinds of stories, great work as always.

日本人でも知らない貴重な資料を紹介していただきありがとうございます。

Your reports are always exceptional!

The 24-edged bottle of Hibiki brand whiskey Suntory had a few years ago was beautiful. Very distinctive design.

By pure coincidence I've just finished reading You Only Live Twice, and was really taken by Fleming's description of Japanese food and drink. Will have to get some Japanese Whisky to try.

If you tap in the search, Dewars White Label, you’ll find out where Suntory were coming from with their original product. You’ll also notice that Tommy Dewar introduced the ‘high ball’ to New York. In the UK this drink is a ‘scotch and soda’ you add as much or as little soda as you like…and have it with or without lemon. As a 2:1 mix soda to scotch, it, along with gin and tonic, became the classic drink across the clubs and bars of the British Empire. It’s a favourite amongst my Indian friends. It’s probably the only way to drink Bells, in fact it’s so closely associated with Bells, that Bells & soda is synonymous 😁

I remember a Suntory commercial in the 70s in the Philippines: " Suntory, Suntory Red Whiskey, De Qalidad!"

I don't think we can underestimate the profound affect that the noted American actor Bob Harris had on Suntory's fortune with the ad campaign that contained the legendary phrase, "For relaxing times, make it Suntory time."

Great video, really enjoyed

I have a vague memory of watching an episode of 60 Minutes, news show in the United States in the 1980s. Talking about Japanese whiskey, back when everyone was afraid of Japan, they got some alleged experts together and blind taste test, and Japanese whiskey against authentic scotch. As I recall, a lot of them, seem to have trouble telling the difference.

"For a relaxing time, make it Suntori time..."

Bought a bottle of Suntory on a whim a couple years back out of curiosity. It now has a permanent home in my cabinet, and my favorite whiskey under $50/bottle.

Excellent and very informative video. thank you

That was quite interesting and your research is appreciated.

Very instructive video.

I love this video! KIller. One small thing - based on the tone, I was shocked to hear Suntory started buying companies toward the end of the video. I heard successes and failures, but didn't realize they were on the rise.

Good documentary. Good bit of info. Thanks.

I remember the days before before the Japanese Bubble burst. If you are an executive or even “salaryman” you would give and receive whiskey bottles. That was the sign that you are appreciated or achieve goals. Pretty much standard etiquette in the business world over there. Or even when you worked with a Japanese company. My father was never much of alcohol drinker. So, over the years, the alcohol cabinet start to get smaller and smaller. Even in my twenties when I started to do some traveling abroad my father used to ask me to buy one of boxes of Japanese and non Japanese whiskey. So, only on sales of whiskey as gift, there was a tremendous market. I really didn’t pay much attention about Japanese whiskey consumption after the Japanese economic crisis started. Kind of coincides with time that my father retired. Part of history of how the whiskey was first produced in Japan is well know, but I never new what happened from 1970’s and beyond. Another note. Suntory built and operated high end restaurants in major metropolitan cities in US. However, in the late 80’s or early 90’s, sadly, they closed. I know that the one in San Francisco did, I don’t know if the on in NY did it too. Good video!

I hadn't heard of Suntory until *Lost in Translation.* And even then, I thought it might have been a fictitious brand just for the movie. It didn't take me long to discover it was very real after that. Thank you for the detailed history. Very nicely done.

An excellent overview, thank you kindly ))

I love when I drink my Japanese whiskey mostly made up of whiskey not distilled in Japan

I stayed at the upscale Hotel Arc Riche Toyohashi in 2017 which had self-serve whiskey and wine on the club lounge floor, including one bottle of fancy scotch and one bottle of a Japanese whiskey which tasted to me almost exactly the same as the scotch, although the color was fairly different.

Great vid! The history here is fascinating. I'm mainly a gin and tequila drinker (and Japan has some amazing gins like Roku, Nikka or Tenjaku), it's cool to see competent variety in an industry as hard to break into as whiskey. Sad they're so damn expensive though.

Always excellent content.

Impressive analysis!!!!!!

Awesome video thanks!

Great video thank you! Would be great to learn more about Japanese Shochu and Korean Soju history next!?

Cheers for the vid!

Just tried the hakashu 18 year the other day and it was phenomenal. I know spirits/beer/wine/cocktails etc., but I'm not expert in any including whiskey. But as someone I think it says something that without deep knowledge I was still floored.

Nice one i really enjoyed this video

Thanks for this, Japanese whisky doesn’t have a great reputation with people of my generation in the U.K., but I will give it a try. I live not far from Elgin in Scotland, so there is a great tradition of manufacture around here.

The forced reopening of Japan by the USA, is always portrayed as a first and a positive…it was neither, the Portuguese traded with Japan from 1514, the Spanish , English and Dutch followed. The Dutch were trading from Nagasaki continuously, including at the time the USA military ‘opened’ Japan

awesome sir, your videos are mind-blowingly informative, thoughtful and make my day

Very informative video!! I think the main reason for the increased pricing of Suntory and Nikka whiskey is a huge shortage of the aged 12 years and older whiskey. Demand from China and North America also helped sales . I've heard both Suntory and Nikka now have many more casks being aged. Interestingly in 2018, I saw the Taiwan Ka La Van at Costco in California. Take care everybody.

Thanks for the interesting video. My exposure to Suntory has been their green tea drinks. Both times I've visited Japan I've gotten their Ocha from Konbinis in both Tokyo and Kyoto, I didn't know they owned Boss Coffee, which I've seen in numerous vending machines as well.

Very interesting, thank you.

2:35 HE'S DUNKIN' ON THE PROTESTANTS!

Very interesting subject!

In the wake of the first Japanese whisky boom, beside the large producers like Suntory, Kirin and Nikka, a number of smaller distilleries have opened up in Japan. They have a more artisanal approach to making whisky, with many surprisingly good results. Chichibu and Mars Shinshu are my two favourites. I've been able to visit them both when they were still upcoming. Unfortunately nowadays, their bottlings are extremely difficult to get outside of Japan (unless you bring the big $$$). Then there is White oak / Eigashima which started producing whisky to have something to do during the sake-making off-season and found out there was actually an audience for their, sometimes 'weird' products. Their main lineup is at least available outside of Japan for decent prices, but not as impressive as their 'weirder' bottlings. In recent years a third wave of distilleries is setting up shop (Akkeshi, Nagahama, Kanosuke) and Mars built a second distillery (Hombro). Nagahama must have financed their startup with releasing Amahagan world blends. I haven't been able to catch something from the other distilleries yet. Let's hope some of that stuff will actually become available.

As a Japanese whiskey lover, I'd learnt a lot in this video. Excellent job! Also, kudos to the mention of Kavalan...when I first tired it, I found it to be so beautifully made that I couldn't believe it wasn't popular! Always keep a bottle of Kavalan and Suntory Toki on my shelf. 😄

Much Love from the Philippines.

04:39 This deer should be on an *Asianometry* T-shirt, as well as the beautifully stylized logo version. Regards, Kev

Yamazaki 12 years, simply a delight

I'm more of a Japanese Sake and Beers man but when I get a chance I'll try to get the whisky to try it out. I just have been avoiding liquor but a once in a while occasion is not bad. Great video, thank you.

The best that I had tried so far among all other Japanese Brands is Hibiki. For those with lowest budget can go for for white oak (Akashi) whiskey.

Incredibly enthralling and informative video. I always wondered why japanese whiskey tends to have that smoky scotch flavor. Cheers!

Good video, thanks 👍

22:07 this seems to be a common theme for large Japanese companies

I actually have a Suntory Signature at home, it comes in a crystal decanter and the label has Mr. Keizo Saiji's signature on it.

I like this vid. Good insight into Whisky.

As an American, I find it absolutely hilarious that the most "popular" bourbon is produced by a company that is owned by a Japanese holding company. Oh the irony.

I've started seeing Kavalan whisky for sale here in the USA! It's good stuff.

There's a small bottle of Japanese whisky in my local shop. It's priced at $400. Crazy. Top-shelf Scottish whisky costs about one-third of that price.

I'm gonna try that Suntory Whiskey Highball drink at my next bar visit.

Lost In Translation honestly must have been boom for Suntory. Iconic scene.

James Bond's words in "You Only Live Twice" were apparently based on Ian Fleming's bad experience with the Japanese whiskies, which did taste anything but whisky regardless of brand up to the 1990's. It is beyond belief that both Suntory and Nikka are the regular winners at the whisky contest held in Edinburgh these days.

I saw the title of this video and it reminded me of Lost in Translation and Suntory Time.

hibiki is still one of my favorites to this day easily top 3

9:00 this poster is similar to Campari adverts Excellent video.

Great video. I was just recently in Sapporo, mulling what local souvenir to bring, didn't know Nikka was such a storied brand. Are you going to do a Kavalan video next?

The first written mention of whiskey was actually almost a century before the 1494 year you stated. It was in the Annals of Clonmacnoise (in Ireland, not Scotland), around 1411 IIRC.

Very interesting. Suntory Marketing Department clearly earned their keep,.

It's a bit misleading to say Japan already had its own alcohol, "sake". Since "sake" just means alcohol in Japanese and there are several traditional Japanese alcoholic drinks. The one we call "sake" in English is actually called "nihonshu". Sake/nihonshu is a brewed drink, not a distilled one. For a traditional Japanese distilled drink, "shochu" and "awamori" are more in the same realm as whisky but are sadly unknown in the west.

How about a video about the rise and fall of HTC?

I remember Suntory Red way back in the 80's here in the Philippines

I hope it finally becomes affordable. Can't believe a Hakushu 12 bottle I got for 120usd which is now 30k yen.

Here in São Paulo, Brazil, from 1975 to 2005, Suntori had the country's best and most famous japanese restaurant, named Suntori. From 2005 to 2016, the same crew worked in the same place ,then named Shintori, that was still one of the better japanese restaurants

2:14 he's pouring A LOT of whiskey lmao

Please talk about Rapidus and the prospect of Japan's semiconductor! Thanks!

I think that alcohol connects market forces with physics, especially energy. Invention of alcoholic beverages often came with some failure to preserve excess yields of whatever crops certain civilization was cultivating at the time. After the invention of distillation process it has become quite easy to preserve any ammount of excess crop yield farmer get from plenteus year. In a way it preserves all the sun energy, you as a farmer have collected in form of carbohydrates (mostly starch), inside grains (or sugar cane in case you prefer rum) you were growing. Weird part of it is when ethanol meets people and it creates unhealthy market, especially after those fruitful years when most people have less work to do. I think that this bust and boom nature of our economy comes mostly from global events like climate patterns and such, our behavioural feedback (like with irresponsible consumption of harmful beverages across the whole society) is secondary. During economic crysises alcohol often becomes very liquid currency, but during prosperous years it is only profitable as a luxury product. It is somewhat similar to the idea that crypto currencies are just an arbitrage of electricity, from the pespective that alcoholic beverages are just an arbitrage of sunny weather, or to put is simply, those plentiful years for the farmers. It is now more clear when you add biofuel market and photovoltaics to the equation. P.S. I'm more familiar with the taiwanese Suntour company, Suntory sounds just odd to me.

I had a bottle of Hibiki without knowing anything about the history of Japanese or Suntory whiskys. It was quite good. A bit on the light side for me (I prefer heavier, peat-smoky, single-malt whiskys) but there was something about the Hibiki that made it very good.

Interesting historical perspective

As a novice drinker, I was pointed in the direction of the Hibiki Suntory whiskey and it is, easily, the best whiskey I have had to date. It puts higher volume options in Canada to shame and is easily worth its price tag.

I used to be able to buy Hibiki 12 year at liquor stores in Japan for about 40$, but after say 2015 the price shot way up due to demand. I was told Chinese were buying it all

Japanese alchohol is a testament to their engineering prowess. I love Kirin and Sapporo beers but when i have some dough for a good liquor you cant go wrong with Japanese Whiskey

It would be nice to have a similar video about the rise of taiwanese whisky. I personally love it.

I’d say it’s fallen yet again. It rose like 3-4 years ago where I live.

Now I want some BOSS coffee. Purchasing drinks from Japanese vending machines us rarely dull.

If I’m honest, I’ve never cared too much for Japanese whiskey as I prefer other whiskeys to scotch. Furthermore, I’ve always felt that they demand a premium despite me being able to find cheaper scotches that are comparable. Then again my knowledge of Japanese whiskey is somewhat limited. Interesting to learn more about why they took the route of Scottish distillers. That said, their specifically made Toki is indeed good for a scotch and soda… or a Japanese highball rather. 😉

It’s me guys. I’m the reason Suntory is doing so well in America right now. The whiskey goes down so smooth. Too smooth 😅

Interesting topic that I was mildly surprised to find covered here. However, this segment didn't really seem to address the rise in quality whisky, like Nikka Black or Hakushu, which started to win awards and renown, and then were hard to get on the market. That development after the 1990s was significant.

Suntory are making a gin now too, and it's really good. It's probably the most affordable "really nice" gin I've come across.

Yooo Liquor Discount House @17:58. Talk about backyard famous

Could we have heard a little more about the Nikka and the other Japanese whiskey companies? Not just Suntory?

I’ve been getting Japanese whiskey brand and distributor ads recently. I have no idea why. I’m 17, but I can’t be the only one getting ads like these out of the blue

So, how is named the second whiskey from right?? I have this bottle fore some time and I don’t know what it is!!

It's finally Suntory time.

At 14:53 the blue can Kin-Mugi 金麦 is not beer. It is made to avoid the tax as beer and to taste like beer. It is categorized as Happosyu 発泡酒.