Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on February 2011

1. Hakushu 12 Year Old

¥7,000 from any decent liquor shop
The green bottle is spot on: it’s like Suntory took a slice of the Japanese Alps and distilled it. Hakushu is green apples and pepper. There’s a little smoke, but not in the Islay-malt, licking-a-hospital-floor sense. It tastes ridiculously fresh for a liquid that’s been sitting in a barrel for more than a decade. Hakushu 12 is a great daily drinker, and if you splash some soda on it, there isn’t a person in the world that could dislike it.

2. Springbank 18 Year Old

¥12,600 from www.rakuten.co.jp/malt-takamura
There’s lots to love about Springbank. It’s Scotland’s oldest independent distillery. It’s very nearly self-sufficient, malting its own barley and bottling its own drinks. And it seems to do well as a mature malt, which was always its signature style, or as a youngster, which has been its recent form. The 18 year is a return to the signature Springbank strawberry jam, coconuts and almonds, with a backdrop of maritime saltiness. It’s the kind of bottle you hide from guests.

3. Yoichi 20 Year Old (1990)

¥21,000 from www.asahishop.net
The 1987 version of this Japanese malt won the Whisky Magazine award for best single malt of its year. I’m pretty sure this one won’t—it isn’t nearly as complex as its great-grandfather. The nose is enticing—like standing by the seaside as someone lays fresh tar—but on the tongue, with a splash of water, it transforms into liquid salty licorice. Not everyone will love it, but I do.

4. Kilchoman—4th release (Summer 2010)

¥6,980 from http://item.rakuten.co.jp/tsutaya/10005818
When Kilchoman (say kill-HOE-man) switched on its stills in 2005, it became the first new Islay distillery for 124 years—and the only Scotch distillery to be completely self-sufficient, right down to growing its own barley. The fourth release, peaty and packed with attitude, was matured in Buffalo Trace bourbon barrels and tastes twice its real age. A limited release, it’s likely to be gone pretty soon, but there’s another three-year-old coming later this year, and anyone attending the Kilchoman masterclass at Whisky Live this month will get a preview of a four-year-old.

5. Taketsuru 12 Year Old

¥2,150 from most good liquor stores
Chris Bunting, founder of the most authoritative blog on Japanese whisky, nonjatta.blogspot.com, evocatively described this blended malt as like “licking a fat-covered frying pan.” Ordinarily I would defer to Bunting’s palate on anything, but he’s wrong about Taketsuru 12. It’s not a complex drink, but it’s amazingly quaffable, and though there are hints of toast, citrus and other bits and bobs, it’s mint chocolate that dominates. Great value.

6. Lagavulin 16 Year Old

¥6,000 from any decent liquor shop
Most tasting experts agree that Lagavulin comes in fruity and develops a smoky finish. I’ve always found exactly the opposite. For me, this Islay malt starts peaty and grows gradually sweeter, from smoke to toffee to mille-feuille. It’s fantastic value for money, a brilliant match for white chocolate, and if I had to pick one whisky for the rest of my life, this would be it (if I was paying).