Wine, Beer, Sake, Whiskey Blog at MoIppai » Suntory http://www.moippai.com/blog Wine, beer, whiskey and more... Thu, 26 Jan 2012 06:55:39 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= 1 Million Yen “The Yamazaki” Whisky Sells Out in 24 Hours!http://www.moippai.com/blog/2011/11/1-million-yen-the-yamazaki-whisky-sells-out-in-24-hours/ http://www.moippai.com/blog/2011/11/1-million-yen-the-yamazaki-whisky-sells-out-in-24-hours/#comments Mon, 14 Nov 2011 14:40:53 +0000 MoIppai http://www.moippai.com/blog/?p=3035 Like my blog? Why don't you follow me on Twitter


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The Yamazaki from Suntory

The Yamazaki


A few days ago Suntory started accepting orders for a very special limited edition bottling of their “Yamazaki Single Malt Whisky“.

This whisky has been aged more than 50 years and is selling for the very reasonable (if you’re idea of reasonable is ridiculously expensive) price of ¥1,000,000 (about US$13,000)!

The whisky is appropriately called “Yamazaki Single Malt 50-Year-Old Whisky” and is limited to 150 bottles.

Unfortunately, in case you did have ¥1 million spare, they sold out in 24 hours.

Oh well, maybe next time.


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Post tags: Japanese Whisky, Single Malt Whiskey, Suntory, The Yamazaki, Whiskey, Whisky

]]> http://www.moippai.com/blog/2011/11/1-million-yen-the-yamazaki-whisky-sells-out-in-24-hours/feed/ 0 Japanese Autumn Beers 2011http://www.moippai.com/blog/2011/09/japanese-autumn-beers-2011/ http://www.moippai.com/blog/2011/09/japanese-autumn-beers-2011/#comments Fri, 16 Sep 2011 13:37:54 +0000 MoIppai http://www.moippai.com/blog/?p=2807 Like my blog? Why don't you follow me on Twitter


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Suntory 秋楽

Suntory Aki Raku

Japan is a country with four very distinct seasons and these are usually marked by the release of seasonal beers (or more often than not these days, daisan or low malt fake beers) from the main brewers here.

Last year I reviewed the Aki Aji 秋味 (Taste of Autumn) from Kirin which got a 2011 release also, but Suntory also released the Aki Raku 秋楽 (Translation: Autumn Comfort/Fun) this year.

(Update: It seems this was released last year too, but I guess I missed it. I found a review of it on Beers of Japan from 2010).

Reviewing it myself the other day, I found it to be an okay daisan, a bit flabby and flat, with not much flavourwise, except a slight taste of malt and a very subtle hint of dark chocolate.

However, having said that, for a daisan it’s not actually that bad!

The full review can be found here: Suntory Aki Raku Review


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Post tags: Autumn beers, Daisan, Seasonal Beers, Suntory

]]> http://www.moippai.com/blog/2011/09/japanese-autumn-beers-2011/feed/ 0 Japanese Brewers Give Up on Happoshuhttp://www.moippai.com/blog/2011/03/japanese-brewers-give-up-on-happoshu/ http://www.moippai.com/blog/2011/03/japanese-brewers-give-up-on-happoshu/#comments Wed, 02 Mar 2011 14:32:43 +0000 MoIppai http://www.moippai.com/blog/?p=2182 Like my blog? Why don't you follow me on Twitter


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A Sapporo Happoshu

Ok, this news is a little bit old, as the Daily Yomiuri reported it back in January, but I’ve been busy and not
had time to put this post up.

Basically it seems that some of the major Japanese brewers, Suntory and Sapporo to be precise, are essentially stopping their production of Happoshu (low-malt beers).
They will continue to make seasonal and regional happoshus apparently, but in-principle at least, they are stopping production.

Asahi is also reducing it’s production by 20%, but Kirin (who make the very popular Tanrei happoshu) have no plans to reduce their happoshu range.

The reason behind this is it seems happoshu become popular as a cheap alternative to regular beer (as they are taxed less due to quirks in the Japanese alcohol tax system that sets a tax rate based on the amount of malt in the drink).

The problem is, the tax has increased twice in recent years making it not really noticeably cheaper than regular beer, and also the introduction of Daisan (or third-category beer) which uses even less malt, and therefore is even cheaper has reduced the desire amongst consumers for Happoshu.

Although a news report I blogged about back in December, talked about the Japanese government considering raising the tax on Daisans aswell.

So who knows, maybe in the not too distant future we’ll just be left with regular beer here in Japan.


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Post tags: Asahi, Daisan, Happoshu, Kirin, Sapporo, Suntory

]]> http://www.moippai.com/blog/2011/03/japanese-brewers-give-up-on-happoshu/feed/ 0 Four Roses Whiskey Highball from Kirinhttp://www.moippai.com/blog/2010/11/four-roses-whiskey-highball-from-kirin/ http://www.moippai.com/blog/2010/11/four-roses-whiskey-highball-from-kirin/#comments Wed, 03 Nov 2010 02:02:24 +0000 MoIppai http://www.moippai.com/blog/?p=1814 Like my blog? Why don't you follow me on Twitter


Related posts on MoIppai]]> The highball craze in Japan continues unabated with Kirin Brewery just announcing the launch of two new highball cans on November 17th this year.

Four Roses Highball and I.W. Harper Highball.

Most highballs in Japan use Suntory whiskey it seems, so this is the first to use Kentucky whiskey.

Suntory themselves have re-released, after a 43-year absence, a canned high-ball made from the company’s Tory’s Whiskey.

Suntory Torys Whiskey

Torys Whiskey Brand Character


They’ve also brought back the old advertisings brand character Uncle Tory (above), this is to appeal to middle-aged and older people who remember the character from back in the day, according to the Daily Yomiuri.

The Four Roses and I.W. Harper Highballs aren’t released until mid-November so I haven’t been able to try them yet (or find a photo of them), but will come back and update this when I have.


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Post tags: Highball, Japan, Kirin, Suntory, Whiskey

]]> http://www.moippai.com/blog/2010/11/four-roses-whiskey-highball-from-kirin/feed/ 1 Summer in Japan – Hanabi and Suntoryhttp://www.moippai.com/blog/2010/07/summer-in-japan-hanabi-and-suntory/ http://www.moippai.com/blog/2010/07/summer-in-japan-hanabi-and-suntory/#comments Sat, 24 Jul 2010 08:11:13 +0000 MoIppai http://www.moippai.com/blog/?p=1519 Like my blog? Why don't you follow me on Twitter


Related posts on MoIppai]]> Unlike in, say England, where we do fireworks when it’s cold and miserable in November, in Japan the fireworks season is the height of summer. In fact our city’s fireworks display and matsuri (festival) is tonight.

To celebrate the fireworks (hanabi 花火 in Japanese) season, Suntory have released a new design for their Kinmugi (Rich Malt) daisan can.

Kinmugi Hanabi Special

Rich Malt Hanabi Special


Nice.


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Post tags: Daisan, Hanabi, Suntory, Third Category Beer

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