Whisky has roughly three ingredients - barley, water, yeast.

Yet, it isn't the easiest in the world for all three of them to serendipitously appear in the vicinity of distillers. Now add more criterions such as quality, specific taste desired, cost; quickly you're out of options.

This really only started because whiskymaking, which originated from Scotland (at least the contemporary version of it), is being exported globally. And just because you would like to make whisky doesn't mean you have the means to do so.

Some countries have counted themselves fortunate - Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, India, are just a few that are able to get their hands on what they need locally. Yet, some countries such as the US, expanded those preconditions to include other more commercially available ingredients such as corn, rye or wheat, which is why we have Bourbon - it's technically a whisk(e)y, but it's certainly not the whisky you're thinking about if you don't live in the US.

Shizuoka Prefecture is known for its closeness to Mount Fuji, as well as its hilly terrain and neighbouring lakes. (Image Source: Gaijin Pot)

Japan, which has quite the history in whiskymaking, falls just short of the barley component.

It's not that Japan has no barley, it's that it is commercially ineffective. Lack of areas suitable for barley farming and poor yields means that local barley is difficult to procure at scale and would be prohibitively expensive to use.

As such, even the giants Suntory and Nikka have predominantly used imported barley. Yet, craft distilleries, also known as Ji-whisky in Japan, have carved out an ethos of being as local as possible - to reflect the craftsmanship by bottling a slice of that locality - a clear mark of distinction from the giants.

Shizuoka Distillery. (Image Source: Shizuoka)

One of the net effects of this boom in whiskies is that as more craft Japanese distilleries have cropped up - you caught the pun? - and also as willingness to pay for Japanese whiskies have more than shot up, barley farming has become in vogue again in Japan.

The scale and prices have made it economically viable... for now. That's all assuming this boom continues. But that's a topic of another time.

Today, I have a very intriguing pair of Shizuoka's - one is a Pot Still K made with 100% Japanese barley, and the other is a Pot Still W, made with 100% imported UK barley. They are bottled at the same proof, with the idea being that the distillery would have us compare the effects of using different barleys.

The barley used certainly matters, although some would say for distilled spirits terroir is an irrelevant concept as any differences would be distilled away unlike wine which is only fermented. Recently, a study sponsored by the Irish distillery Waterford proved the terroir does indeed exist, although I'm sure the study will do little to change fixed minds.

Yet, if you rewind to the Scotch boom in the 1960s for a minute, there's lots of talk of how barley used then - the Golden Promise varietal - bests the Belgravia varietal popularly used today. The reason being that whiskymakers have selected agriculturally higher yielding barley varietals that make for more efficient distillation, in order to produce more whiskies quicker. It's certainly a complex process, but as a heuristic, whiskies that typically have more flavor tend to come from barley that presents its yeast with more complex sugars that are able to be converted into more complex congeners and esters that are what provides the whisky its flavor.

So, it would make sense that using different barley, whether different varietals or from different harvesting conditions, should matter.

That said, it is a little strange to me that they come from different distillation stills, Pot Still K is the resurrected still from defunct legendary distillery, Karuizawa, while Pot Still W is one of the few wood-fired stills operationally active worldwide. Different stills kind of throws off our ability to control for that variable, but we'll give them a taste anyway.

Shizuoka Pot Still K Japanese Barley First Edition, 55.5% - Review

Color: Amber

Aroma: Aromatic sweet smokiness - hold on, not peat, but simply sweet smoke - comes through. Heady aromas of honey, straw, muscat grapes, hard candy, marshmallow and lemon zest comes through. It is at once smoky, but fresh and of natural sweetness, with just a touch of citric zest.

Taste: Punchy, medium-bodied and oily. More on honey, peppercorns, and an ashiness - again quite aromatic. There is a light brininess and minerality to it - think grapefruit rinds, somewhat bitter but zesty. The acidity balances out the sweetness. More vegetal notes, with an oaky woodiness that is giving off some vanilla and wood tannins.

Finish: Medium-length. Light honey, woody tannins, and then more bitter citric zest and some brisk pepperiness.

My Thoughts

Tasted blind, I would have sworn this was a Caol Ila Scotch whisky. It has a coastal quality to it - smoke, seaspray, citric zest. Very bright and lively, and at the same time grounded with a dollop of honey to balance out the acidity.

While it is a young whisky, you could tell it was well-made and beyond its years - this is the stuff you expect your workhorse favorite Scotchs to produce. So kudos for the great effort, it really has created a solid daily drinker. 

Shizuoka Pot Still W Imported Barley First Edition, 55.5% - Review

Color: A slightly lighter amber.

Aroma: Sweet ash - this seems to be a thing, very aromatic and heady as well. But here it is ostensibly sweeter than the K, and leans towards a more malty, richer profile. Lots of decadent vanilla and honey, with a touch of singed wood and eucalyptus herbal candy. Sweet, rich, lightly bitter and tannic with a more herbaceous profile.

Taste: Sweet honey with a good shake of cracked black pepper. More on straw and wood - almost reminiscent of a barnyard. Woody tannins with more aromatic ash, and then again this turns more herbaceous. Quite the continuation of what its aromas suggested.

Finish: Gently fades out with good warmth. Here it is more bittersweet with notes of honey and oak tannins. The same sweet ash - light, perfumery and fragrant.

My Thoughts 

This was quite cohesive, alittle more rounded and seamless, with the entire tasting experience very singular - sweet ash, rich honey, counterbalanced with a more tannic acidity and herbaceousness. The richness is quite the allure but at the same time this would be considered fairly straightforward and simple - but it sure tasted good. It's like the Friends sitcom - you already know the plot but it doesn't matter, because you're still going to enjoy it anyway.

Overall

They're both very well-made, you can tell. The K was very reminiscent of a young Caol Ila, while the W was super close to a Balvenie. They were both rich and had great textures and body, one with a little more complexity and the other was just neatly enjoyable.

Personally, I enjoyed the W more than the K, but I'd chalk that down to a matter of preference for something sweeter and more honeyed, rather than one that was alittle closer to an Islay whisky.

The several people at the bar that night seem to lean alittle more to the K and felt that it had more complexity and the brininess balanced out the honeyed sweetness more and that the smokiness was quite enjoyable - Asians love their Islays, what can you do about it?

That said, to the matter at hand, could I tell the difference between the two barley origins? Truth be told, not really, because as I mentioned, they hail from two different distillation stills, which in my opinion has probably one of the most significant impact on the flavors created in whiskies. So really, I hate to give a non-answer, but it's a non-answer from me, for now.

Kanpai!

@111hotpot