Non-Scottish Whisky: Japanese, Indian, Dutch, et al?

[DrumMayer]

A digression in Jack Daw's "Scotch Whiskies to Avoid" thread has piqued my interest in non-Scottish whisky. A cursory search has revealed varieties from Japan, India, the Netherlands, and Sweden to be available. Has anyone tried one or more whiskies from any of these places, or elsewhere? What are your recommendations? What are your cautionary tales?

[BEEDEE]

New Zealand has a history of illegal whisky distilling form the early Scots immigrants. Now they make it legally: http://www.whiskymerchants.co.uk/#/n...sky/4533663765 and http://www.whiskymerchants.co.uk/#/s...-nz/4533634596

The only one I have tried is Old Hokonui from an old MacRae recipe. Not a bad drop at all.

Brian

[Old Hippie]

Occasionally I surface from a long immersion in my old favourite products and take a quick scan of the market. I've lately noticed a trend among beer brewers to create an unhopped wort according to one of their bestselling recipes, and have a craft distiller turn that into whisk(e)y.

It makes perfectly logical sense, and I suppose it can create an interesting tie to the beer brand. Case (or rather, one bottle) in point: Rogue Spirits Dead Guy Whisky. I picked up a bottle the last time I was in Oregon, and I've *ahem* made a major dent in it since.

The good: Rogue Brewery in Newport, Oregon is a must-visit if you like breweries. If you don't like breweries, drive back across the Yaquina Bay Bridge, turn right into Old Town, and go stand in line at Mo's. Might as well be eating clam chowder as they serve it in Heaven. I like most of Rogue's beers, but the Old Crustacean Barley Wine is my all-time favourite in that style, and best of their breed as far as I'm concerned. Dead Guy Ale is a pretty standard beer in the West Coast tradition. In the last few years Rogue has experimented with small-batch distilling of rums (white and "dark"), gin (I'm not a gin person, so haven't tried it), and whiskey made from unhopped wort.

The bad: Frankly, pardon me, but I think the Dead Guy Whisky lacks body. :mrgreen: It's advertised as "Ocean Aged in Oak Barrels for One Month" which I'd say is a good start but certainly nowhere near adequate. It shows a faint hint of what it could be, but as with a promising child appreciation should be muted at this early stage. It's not a $40 bottle. I found the white rum to be like any other white spirit, though some sugar congeners did make it past the distillation column. The "dark" was more of a light rum, and one, again, lacking boldness and refinement.

I understood from a conversation with the staff that some of the product was being laid down, but that the cost of storage and time were pressing them a bit. Still and all an interesting and clean whiskey, a tie to a known brewery, but pretty much just a conversation piece.

[MacRobert's Reply]

The weekend before last I asked a small group of single-malt-drinking friends to identify a mystery dram. They concluded that it was a Speyside. In fact it was the Welsh whisky, Penderyn. Easily mistaken for a Scottish malt and very pleasant.

[kiltedwolfman]

One of my favourite whiskeys is the Yamazaki by Suntory out of Japan, or their Habiki brand as well.

[Lallans]

I seem to recall that a Suntory scotch won a World Gold Medal a few years back. And of course they were featured with Bill Murray in that great movie.

[Lallans]

Last year I was in an Ontario Vintages outlet and the sampling counter guy gave me a wee sample of Connemara Single Malt without charging me the $10 the LCBO mandated. I was so charmed that I bought a bottle (around $140) and have never regretted it. A wonderful whisky, Irish, but as good as many of more expensive Scotchs I've tried. I'm a collector in a very small way and hope to keep the same bottle throughout my life as a singular instance of Ontario liquor liberality- but by the time I cash out, I expect the bottle will have been long empty .

[Dale Seago]

. . .Connemara Single Malt. . .I was so charmed that I bought a bottle (around $140) and have never regretted it. A wonderful whisky, Irish, but as good as many of more expensive Scotchs I've tried.

One of only a couple of Irish whiskies that are still peated, and I couldn't agree more with your assessment! The Irish were still doing that a lot up to the 19th century. The only other Irish single malts I'm aware of that are peated, and which I haven't tried yet, are Clonmel and Cadenhead.

[EHCAlum]

Not that big of a whiskey fan, though I enjoy Makers Mark. Kluge vineyards in Charlottesville VA has a really nice wine called Kru. Its a a chardonnay fortified with local distilled brandy and then aged for 6 months in Jack Daniels barrels.

Its crazy pricey like all Kluge wines though

[beloitpiper]

I love Japanese single malts. Yamazaki and Yoichi are both fabulous drams that have an honored place in my collection.