Best Japanese whiskies to try in 2021 and where to buy

Japanese whisky to enjoy neat, on the rocks or as a classic Highball to refresh you while you soak up a summer of sport

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Suntory
Jenny Sterne2 August 2021

With Tokyo 2021 Olympics fever high (go Team GB!), now’s the best time to add Japanese whisky to your drinks collection and toast the return of a summer of sport.

Whisky has been brewed in Japan as early as the 1850s when a few shocku and sake breweries produced it on the side. But the story of Japanese whisky really began when Suntory established the first distillery in 1923 after sending an employee to Scotland to learn the practices of their whisky distilling. This employee, Masataka Taketsuru, went on to create his own Japanese whisky brand, Nikka.

For a long time the Japanese whisky market stayed in the East, but that’s changed in the last couple of decades. Many suggested it was due to the influence of Sofia Coppola’s 2003 Lost in Translation in which Bill Murray’s character advertised Suntory’s whisky with the memorable line: “For relaxing times, make it Suntory time!”.