Glenglassaugh Coastal Series [Tasted #643 - #645]

Since joining the portfolio of The Benriach Distillery Company, the revival of Glenglassaugh has featured well as part of Benriach Company's reputation to revive old, forgotten distilleries. 

Dr Rachel Barrie, Brown-Forman Single Malts Master Blender noted that very few distilleries are situated by the beach with the sun, with rolling waves. The air and the high mineral water content all shape to influence the unique profile of Glenglassaugh. The minerality is derived from the geology and the landscape from where Glenglassaugh sits, with the distillery located by the beach, on the sea cliffs next to the village of Portsoy, Scotland.

Glenglassaugh has been around since 1875, during the 19th-century blend-led boom. It's been mothballed a few times, first in 1907, again in 1986 before finally being saved in 2007. Even then Glenglassaugh has always produced smaller volumes until 2010 before production started ramping up.

As Dr Rachel Barrie noted, 12 years on, the Glenglassaugh whisky from those years has finally come of age as it's reached the milestone age. She described it as the coastal awakening of Glenglassaugh. With the launch of Glenglassaugh's Coastal Series which will become their core range, the Glenglassaugh 12yo stands out as the flagship in the series.

The Glenglassaugh Coastal Series features three new expressions; a 12yo, Sandend and Portsoy. What's also apparent is the new bottle design which is said to have been inspired by the rippling sand tide at Sandend Bay and the overarching colour of the ocean.

The release of the flagship Glenglassaugh 12yo single malt embodies Glenglassaugh’s signature coastal style. The 12yo matured in bourbon, sherry and red wine casks and is akin to an evolution to Glenglassaugh Revival which also is a result of a mix of wine, bourbon and sherry casks.

Two other new whiskies, Sandend and Portsoy join the flagship 12yo. Sandend, inspired by the crescent beach of Sandend Bay, is matured in bourbon, sherry and manzanilla casks and Portsoy, the peated release, taking its name from the neighbouring harbour village, reflects the bold and deeply maritime flavour of this richly peated single malt, matured in sherry, bourbon and port casks. These three now represent Glenglassaugh's core range expressions.

As Dr Rachel Barrie noted:

“The new portfolio brings together all the key elements of Glenglassaugh’s spirit. Inspired by its truly unique coastal location, the new expressions transport us to a place where the spirit is awakened and soul invigorated, inviting us to stop, take a breath and appreciate our surroundings.”

“To taste Glenglassaugh Single Malt is to experience the coastal influence of Sandend Bay and the ancient harbour towns nearby. Shaped by the coalescence of land and sea, the senses are awakened by the imposing yet calming crash of waves and the sweet smell of gorse in the air.”

Glenglassaugh 12yo (45% ABV, Highland, Scotland, A$109.99)

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An evolution to the Glenglassaugh Revival with similar cask composition for the 12yo to the Glenglassaugh Revival. This flagship Glenglassaugh 12yo release carry the dry influence from the wine cask with the added richness from the bourbon and sherry casks. 

Nose: Lots of tropical fruits, passionfruit, sour pineapple and mixed with dark raisins, fig, Christmas cake and some dried fruits.

Palate: The palate is ladened with tannin, grape tannin - likely from the wine casks. The notes that follow are sweet, candied date like followed by some spices that come alive after a while.

Finish: Medium to long

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 92/100 (Hendy)

Glenglassaugh Sandend (50.5% ABV, Speyside, Scotland, A$131.99)

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My pick of the three new releases from Glenglassaugh. This decadent malt from Glenglassaugh is beautiful, creamy, dessert like with burst of tropical fruit flavours. Many of the rich flavours I suspect have been derived from the manzanilla fino sherry casks which on its own is a remarkably rich sherry.

Nose: Almost ice cream like. The nose is beautiful and creamy with loads of vanilla, sweet vanilla slice, butter cookies, vanilla ice cries with a tinge of sea salt and peppermint.

Palate: The palate is equally as soft and beautiful with a tinge of slight spices, black peppercorns but with a persistent sweetness, vanilla ice cream like. The palate is lush, creamy, viscous and palate coating.

Finish: The finish is soft, gentle and slowly fizzles out.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 93/100 (Hendy) 

Glenglassaugh Portsoy (49.1% ABV, Highland, Scotland, A$119.99)

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A lightly peated Glenglassaugh release that balances the rich notes derived from the sherry, bourbon and port casks with umami flavours. This is a rather interesting expression that reminds me of everything from seaweed crisps to salted caramel crumbles. The sherry and port wine casks does bring out the dark chocolate and spices with some light bonfire smoke notes coming through. Delicious.

Nose: Rich, maritime notes. Hints of seaweed, sea salted seaweed with salted caramel. The nose is reminiscent of Japanese seaweed sheet mixed with a bit of dark chocolate and cherries.

Palate: The palate is full bodied, has a bit of the salted caramel from the nose, sweet maple syrup with a light bonfire smoke coming through from the peated grain.

Finish: The finish is light and lingers for a while.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 92/100 (Hendy) 

The new Glenglassaugh Coastal Series is an exciting release from this small Highland distillery. The three new Glenglassaugh expressions will be available nationwide from September 2023 at Dan Murphy and specialist whisky stockists. 

For limited time in September, the team at Brown Forman have partnered with Sydney Oyster Farm Tours to offer a 'Sea-to-Table' whisky and oyster experience. Now, of the three, I would have thought the Portsoy to be the most decadent pairing for any oyster tasting but this package offers pairing with all three releases.

So here's your chance to savour some of Hawkesbury’s finest oysters, during peak oyster season (which runs from September to March) while submerged in the tranquil waters of the Hawkesbury River indulging in both the Glenglassaugh coastal range and Hawkesbury's finest oysters.

Visit Glenglassaugh Whisky Immerse Yourself package to check on availability across September for this particular package.

Thanks to the Brown Forman and We Are Different teams for previewing the new Glenglassaugh Coastal Range with us.

Cheers
Hendy

Brown-Forman Whisky Showcase ft. GlenDronach 28yo (Batch 19) and Glenglassaugh 47yo [Tasted #608 - 609]

With an extensive portfolio of whiskies, how does one select a handful to showcase and highlight the different characters that may represent the portfolio.

That was the challenge taken on by Andy Tsai (Brown-Forman NSW/ACT Brand Ambassador), Grant Shearon (Brown-Forman Advocacy and Development Manager) and Stuart Reeves (Brown Forman Brand Manager) at the recent Brown Forman showcase event. 

The brief was simple, select 3 Benriach whiskies and 3 GlenDronach whiskies out of the extensive Benriach and GlenDronach portfolio to highlight the best of the rest. If that wasn't enough, the team also brought out a Glenglassaugh 47yo to accompany the set of Benriach and GlenDronach whiskies.

So what got selected and presented? These were the six whiskies that were featured:

• Benriach Malting Season Batch 2
• Benriach The Twelve
• Benriach The Twenty One
• GlenDronach 15yo "The Revival"
• GlenDronach 18yo "The Allardice"
• GlenDronach 28yo Batch 19 - Cask #6871

The Benriach Malting Season Batch 2 was the first one we first tasted. The Malting Season expression is the first expression to be produced entirely using barley malted from Benriach's Speyside distillery's historic floor maltings. The first edition of Benriach Malting Season is two-cask matured in bourbon and virgin oak barrels to bring out the wholesome, creamy flavour. There are notes of barley sugar, almond fudge and poached apple with smooth flavours of vanilla and honeyed pear, with nuttiness on the finish.

My favourite Benriach from the core series, the Benriach The Twelve was our second malt. The Twelve is a rich and smooth expression of Benriach Single Malt. Matured in a sherry-rich profile and combined with the addition of bourbon and port casks. Everything from rich honey, chocolate, baked black forest and some lingering oak spice. There is some citrus, sultana and spices on the finish. Very delicious.

The Benriach The Twenty One was the third expression we tasted. The unique aspect of the Twenty One is that this expression is known for its long maturation and the use of the four-cask maturation process. According to Dr Rachel Barrie, it is somewhat of a delicate process that requires patience and also combines unpeated and peated styles. The characters of aged bourbon, sherry, virgin oak and red wine casks are combined into this expression. It is very elegant. There is subtle inland peat, and some smoked bacon, together with honey, glazed cherry, baked orange, hazelnut and elegant spices.

The GlenDronach 15yo Revival Whisky has been refreshed recently and it is matured in PX and Oloroso sherry casks from Andalucía. The GlenDronach Revival has been a core feature of the GlenDronach series and there are notes of dark fruits, raisins, rich chocolate and manuka honey. It's almost like drinking Christmas in a glass. Delicious and by far remains my favourite GlenDronach go-to expression.

The 18yo brethren of the Revival is The GlenDronach 18yo Allardice. Matured in fine Oloroso sherry casks from Andalucía, Spain, the 18yo is similarly rich sherried Highland malt whisky with notes of dark treacle, allspice and walnut carrying and with a long, lingering finish. Many consider this expression as the ultimate sherry bomb.

The GlenDronach Cask Bottling Batch 19 - Cask #6871 (53% ABV, 28yo, Highlands, Scotland, A$1,100) 

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If the Revival is considered Christmas in a glass, this GlenDronach cask series would be the main event. 

Nose: A whiff of raisins followed by some Christmas pudding alongside caramel tarts with some milk chocolate shavings. There are also notes of creme brulee and treacle syrup

Palate: Salted caramel with particular saltiness that comes through. The palate is viscous, layered with milk chocolate, and raisins before transitioning to spices; nutmeg, cinnamon and ground coffee

Finish: medium lingering with spices, in particular cinnamon

Rating: 93/100 (Hendy) 

Glenglassaugh 1972 vintage 47yo, cask #3802 (44.4% ABV, 47yo, Speyside, Scotland, A$7,750) 

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The Glenglassaugh cask #3802 is a PX cask. Filled to cask in 1972 and bottled at 47yo, this Glenglassaugh 47yo is non-chill filtered and matured in coastal warehouses on the shores of Sandend Bay, it has notes of passionfruit and buttercream, kissed by the sea.

Nose: The passionfruit is prominent, with lots of passionfruit lollies, tropical fruits, some raisins, blackberries,  and vanilla. It's like a fruit salad mixed with berries. 

Palate: The passionfruit continues to dominate the palate followed by citrus notes before settling into sweet berries. The tannin is quite prominent before a spiced finish, white pepper. 

Finish: The finish is dry and there is a lingering oak note. 

Rating: 92/100 (Hendy)

The Brown Forman showcase event was a remarkable walkthrough of what Brown Forman has to offer. Everything from your classic Benriach Twelve to those bottlings from GlenDronach that would appease those around the Christmas table with its prominent rich, Christmas notes.

Thanks to Adrian of 'different' and Stuart Reeves from Brown Forman for extending the Brown Forman showcase event to us.

Cheers,

Hendy.

The BenRiach Distillery Company x Ming Court Whisky Dinner (Tasted #402)

It's always nice when one of your favourite distilleries (GlenDronach) comes to town, especially when they're accompanied by their two sister distilleries (BenRiach & Glenglassaugh), and especially when they really get embedded into the local culture, as this video shows:

In addition to filming the video, Global Brand Ambassador (for all 3 brands) Stewart Buchanan was in Hong Kong to host a whisky dinner at Cordis Hotel's Ming Court restaurant, pairing 6 Cantonese courses with whiskies from the three distilleries:

• Glenglassaugh Evolution
• The BenRiach Heart of Speyside
• The GlenDronach Original 12yo
• The GlenDronach Allardice 18yo
• The GlenDronach Parliament 21yo
• The Benriach Curiositas 10yo
• The GlenDronach Single Cask 1993 24yo (Cask #55)

Whisky pairings can be a lot of fun, especially when the chef puts in the effort to actually design and match dishes to the whiskies, not just finding complementary flavours, but actually enhancing notes in one with the other......which was absolutely the case with this menu. It was clear the time that Stewart and chef Li Yuet-Faat spent together was time well-spent.

Stewart started the night with a brief introduction to the three distilleries, explaining that whilst the three are relatively close geographically (GlenDronach and BenRiach being Speyside distilleries, Glenglassaugh sitting just outside in the Highlands), they all have unique surroundings (someone may have mentioned "terroir") and characteristics - from BenRiach's traditional Speyside profile, to GlenDronach's heavier, more sherried profile and Glenglassaugh's fruity, sweet spirit (largely due to the water having the highest mineral content of any distillery).

Kicking off with Glenglassaugh Evolution, Stewart explained that whilst it's currently a NAS (and has been since 2008), when it hits 10 years old it will carry a 10yo age statement. As the name suggests, it's evolved over time, and certainly this expression was markedly different to the one I first tried over 5 years ago back in 2013. Matured in ex-Tennessee barrels (guess which ones...), it shows sweet, stewed fruits on the nose, lots of ginger spice on the palate and a long sweet ginger finish. An excellent match for the Sautéed Fresh Lobster with Honey and Lemongrass, with the ginger notes in the whisky really lifting the honey notes in the dish.

Next was The BenRiach Heart of Speyside, paired with Braised White Asparagus and Sautéed Matsutake, Termite, Shimeji and Shitake Musrhoom with Chilli Sauce. It was the asparagus which stood out here - when combined with the whisky, there was an earthy-but-floral note sounds odd, but was very enjoyable.

Moving onto GlenDronach (referred to on the night as the "double espresso of single malt"), both the Original 12yo and Allardice 18yo were paired with Braised Port Rib in Homemade Royal Sauce. The Allardice 18yo was my favourite whisky of the two (unsurprising given its sole makeup of Oloroso, and my penchant for Oloroso-matured GlenDronach!) but the 12yo I thought was a better pairing, adding a sweetness to the already very rich "royal sauce".

Keeping with The GlenDronach theme, The GlenDronach Parliament 21yo was next, paired with

Braised Wagyu beef cheek with aged dried tangerine peel. The 21yo has always been one of the sweeter GlenDronachs (due to its mix of PX and Oloroso sherry casks) and the sweetness in the whisky really melded with the dried Tangerine Peel well, adding a sweetness to the latter and amplifying the flavours in both.

Back to BenRiach next, where The Benriach Curiositas 10yo was paired with Fried Rice with Cram Meat, Dried Shrimp paste, Ginger and Spring Onion. A pretty tasty dish on its own, the perfumed smoke in the Curiositas brought out wood smoke & BBQ notes which were very enjoyable.

There was one dish left at this point, but Stewart surprised (and delighted) guests by whipping out a single cask GlenDronach. Not just any single cask, mind you - a 1993 (said by GD fans to be a special year) Single Cask 24yo (Cask #55) - one of the highest regarded 1993 single casks! 

The GlenDronach Single Cask 1993 24yo Cask #55 (56.7% ABV, 24 Years Old, Speyside, Scotland, no longer available)
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Colour: Bright red-brown copper
Nose: Big, sharp Oloroso notes. Sultanas, woodspice, polish. Cherries. Plums.
Palate: Rich, sweet leather. Ginger spice. Coffee beans and some sweet tobacco notes. With time herbal notes emerge, then more cherries, plums and red berries. Dark chocolate.
Finish: Long, sweet oak with a slightly herbal and slight raspberry note.
Rating (on Martin's very non-scientific scale): 93/100. A very high performing GDSC!

The sole remaining dish (Molten Whisky and Chocolate Custard Bun) was due to be paired with The BenRiach Heart of Speyside (as the bun was actually cooked with the whisky), however I found The Benriach Curiositas 10yo to be the best pairing, with the smoke doing wonders for the molten chocolate.

Stewart presents Chef Li with a signed bottle of Allardice 18yo

With bellies full of great whisky and equally good food, it was time to retire to head home...but not before another dram or two of that lovely cask #55!

Cheers,
Martin.

Time for Whisky attended the dinner as a guest of Telford Wine & Spirits, distributors of BenRiach, GlenDronach and Glenglassaugh in Hong Kong. A big thanks to the team (and Cordis Hong Kong) for a fantastic night.

Tokyo International Bar Show + Whisky Expo 2016 review

Call me a creature of habit, but a few weeks ago I did exactly the same thing I did last year, and flew to Tokyo for 36 hours to attend the 2016 Tokyo International Bar Show + Whisky Expo - aka "TIBS".

Why? A few reasons:

• The whisky culture in Japan is just incredible. Not just Japanese whisky either - Japan's love of all whisky, especially Scotch and American, is endless. It shows in their expos (like TIBS and Whisky Live / Modern Malt Market, which we also attended last year), it shows in the special Scotch releases that no other market receives, it shows in their absolutely incredible whisky bar scene, and it shows in their own local whiskies too.
• The cocktail / bar scene is equally as impressive - I'd go so far as to say the best in the world; and
• The annual bottlings released at the show are always high quality, well-priced, varied and fun to bring home.

It helps too that Cathay have flights from Hong Kong that drop you into Tokyo at 6am on Saturday, allowing you to leave 6pm Sunday, all without taking a day off work.

..and so it was decided - I'd follow the same routine as last year and fly into Tokyo Saturday morning, have a quick shower and change at the hotel, then head to the show for a day of whisky....

As is tradition, the show kicked off with an introduction from the invited guests, who assembled on the main stage and included:

• Cocktail legend Gary (Gaz) Regan (of Regan's Bitters)
• Angus Winchester (Global Tanqueray Brand Ambassador)
• Islay native / expert Christine Logan (aka "Lady of the Isles")
• Stewart Buchanan (Global Brand Ambassador for GlenDronach, BenRiach & Glenglassaugh); and
• Local legend Ichiro Akuto (who should need no introduction!)

Following the brief introduction, and noticing the annual bottle queue had already snaked around the venue, I headed over to the Shinanoya stand to see what was on offer, and started my day with a dram of 20yo single cask 1995 GlenDronach from a PX Puncheon, bottled exclusively for Shinanoya. There are worse ways to start the day...

From there it was a short hop over to the always-popular Venture Whisky (aka Ichiro's Malt / Chichibu) stand. Unfortunately the annual Chichibu bottling (a 5 year old single cask ex-American Oak) wasn't available for tasting on the stand, but the core lineup bottles, along with a number of cask samples, were.

One thing I love about Akuto-San (and his wonderful brand ambassador, Yumi-San) is that no matter how popular their small distillery has become, they still go to the trouble of bringing along a few rare / unique / interesting / cask sample bottles (often accompanied by a "Bottle 1 of 2" label). TIBS 2016 was no different, with samples from four casks, all bottled in May 2016:

• French Oak ex-Wine Cask (1st fill), distilled in 2011 and bottled at 61.4% ABV. My favourite, with a deliciously earthy, tannic (but not bitter) palate and a lovely nose of berries.
• American Oak Bourbon Barrel (1st fill), distilled in 2010 and bottled at 60.6% ABV
• Virgin American Oak "Chibidaru" (literally "small") quarter cask, distilled in 2010 and bottled at 61.9% ABV.
• American Oak Bourbon Cask (1st fill), containing peated spirit distilled in 2012, also bottled at 61.9% ABV

All were fantastic, and showed incredible variety considering the new make in 3 of them was identical, and they'd only had between 3 and 6 years' maturation. A true testament to Akuto-san's skill.

With Ardbeg Day / Night just around the corner, Ardbeg were offering attendees cocktails, drams of the core lineup, and the chance to win tickets to the Tokyo event. 

The stand also featured Shortie (Ardbeg's famous Jack Russell mascot), but unlike the toy Shorties of 2013, or the real Shorties of 2014, this was a taxidermied Jack Russell, which was more than a little creepy....

Moving next door and keeping with the Islay theme, it was onto Lagavulin, who were showcasing the new 200th Anniversary 8 year old, available once visitors "Liked" the Lagavulin Facebook page. Having tried it a few weeks earlier, I didn't partake (though it is a good dram - notes up shortly).

The stand also offered visitors the chance to have their photo taken "inside" a 3D glass of whisky, which worked well when the photographer got the angle right... (as not evidenced here):

A few short steps away was the Scotch Malt Whisky Society stand, which had an impressive selection of over 20 bottles. While all required at least a few tokens (sold at ¥1000 for a book of 5, and required to sample the rarer whiskies on offer), the prices were very reasonable and they were offering generous member discounts.

I took the opportunity to try a young Rocktown Bourbon (B3.2 "Ooey-gooey Cinnamon Bun") which friends back in Australia had raved about - and with good cause. It was a brilliant dram, very reminiscent of a big fruity jam donut. Delicious.

As you can probably tell from the photos above and below, I brought my own Glencairn glass to Tokyo. Extreme? Perhaps, but Japanese whisky shows tend to be notorious for not offering proper glassware, as was the case again this year with most drams being poured into tiny little ~30mL plastic cups.

I get the hassle involved with having to provide thousands of glasses (and either collect them at the end, or build them into the price of the ticket), but small plastic cups are not really conducive to properly tasting / assessing quality whisky. It's literally my only complaint about the otherwise brilliant Japanese whisky expo scene, and it's a minor one.

Kavalan had a large range on offer, but the prices to taste most of them were (in my opinion) unreasonable, especially for the recent award-winning Amontillado cask, which ran about $25AUD / $145HKD for a small taste.

As the giants of the Japanese whisky industry, Nikka and Suntory had large stands, but (understandably) with no standout products, and only the basic NAS single malts on offer. As distributors of Edrington and William Grant & Sons products in Japan, Suntory were also offering pours of The Macallan and Glenfiddich, including Macallan Rare Cask and Glenfiddich 21.

Mars were offering their "Wine Cask Finish" Komagatake (which, like the aforementioned Chichibu, balanced the deep berry notes without being overly tannic or bitter), although on later reflection I realised we'd never heard of this particular release, as it's neither the blended "Wine Cask Finish" that was released in 2014, nor the 10yo single malt "Wine Cask Finish" that was released in a short squat bottle. Google was little help, so we're still not sure exactly when this one was released!

Smaller distilleries were well-represented too, including Chicago's Koval (which we first tasted back in 2014) and Finland's Kyrö Distillery Company, who were offering their gin (tasty) and rye (young but showing promise). 

Independent bottlers were also well-represented, and continued to showcase the level of quality we've come to expect from indie bottlings made available to the Japanese market.

GlenDronach, BenRiach & Glenglassaugh were also well-represented, as was their recent new parent company Brown Forman. In addition to the core GlenDronach line-up, a 1995 single cask and the latest cask strength, there was also a bottle of GlenDronach new make - a rare opportunity to taste the raw product that, 18-20 years later, becomes one of my favourite sherried whiskies. With lots of oats and breakfast cereal, it was smooth, flavoursome and very drinkable. I suspect this was a recent batch of new make, and not the pre-2004 spirit from coal-fired stills.

BenRiach's new Cask Strength Batch 1 was also a treat - I'd heard good things before and they were all true. Lots of tropical fruit and gummy bears for me.

After all that whisky, it was time for a cocktail to reset the palate, and who better to share one with than bartending legend Gary (Gaz) Regan? Gary hosted a small masterclass focusing on a few of his creations from years gone by. including one odd creation involving chilli powder (which was interesting, but two sips was enough...)

With the cocktail class over, it was back to the drams, a quick visit to Bacardi's "pop up speakeasy" (a cool idea for a 2 day bar expo, but one we're reliably informed was already done by Hendrick's several years ago), and then time to call it a day and head back to the hotel for a quick freshen up before heading off to my favourite whisky bar in Tokyo - The Mash Tun in Meguro, where I tried this ridiculous 1979 single cask ex-Mizunara Yamazaki, and a 43yo Longmorn (amongst others).

Day 2 saw me arrive early enough to lock in a bottle of the annual Chichibu, as well as a 20 year old Springbank single cask bottled just for the show. There was a ~16yo Karuizawa too, but at ¥145,000, it was a lot more than I was happy to spend (and others too it seems - as there were still some left long after many of the other bottles had sold out).

Whilst not for sale, there was also a hand-filled Bowmore on tasting which was delightful, and a great way to kick start the day. We'll have full tasting notes for Chichibu, Springbank and Bowmore up in a separate post shortly.

My second masterclass of the show was with Christine Logan (aka "Lady of the Isles") - an Islay native, expert, and former Bowmore employee of over 25 years. Christine's class focused on pairing Islay produce with Islay whiskies, and whilst the first two whiskies themselves were pretty standard (Laphy Select and Bowmore Small Batch, from memory), the final was something much more special. One nose and I knew it was something I'd enjoy very, very much...

...and it turns out I was right - it was one of my all time favourite whiskies, the 1989 Bowmore Port Cask! Every single time I've tried this whisky, I've absolutely loved it, and this was no exception.

With my flight back to Hong Kong looming, there was just enough time to drop by the Chichibu / Venture Whisky stand a second time for another dram, grab an obligatory photo with Akuto-San, and then plan my exit.

...but not before I was convinced to make a brief stop at the Hendrick's stand for a de-constructed gin tasting. I've always said gin is the whisky drinker's white spirit, and the chance to do a tasting of all the components that make up one of my favourite gins (including a full-proof example at 70% ABV) was too good to pass up. Big props to Hendrick's for using real glassware at their booth too - both for tasting and cocktails.

So after nearly 36 hours on the ground in Tokyo, that was it - another Tokyo International Bar Show done and dusted. It's hard to say if there was more or less whisky present compared to 2015 (possibly a bit less), but the quality was high, the variety was great, and the people, as always, awesome.

Would I recommend the show? Absolutely. Will I return next year? Probably!

Until next time Japan, Kanpai!

Cheers,
Martin.

TimeforWhisky.com would again like to thank Ueno-San (of the excellent Bar High Five, which we finally visited on this trip) for the press pass and kind hospitality at the show.