Japanese whiskey now has its controlled designation

The Japan Spirits and Liqueur Manufacturers Association has adopted new, stricter rules to protect the name "Japanese whiskey" and dissuade foreign producers, unrelated to Japan, from using this name.

To be able to use the appellation, producers must now use spring water from Japan, and whiskey barrels must be stored in the archipelago for at least three years. © Creative Commons

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With our correspondent in Tokyo,

Frédéric Charles

To be able to use the name “Japanese whisky”, producers must, from now on, use Japanese spring water. And whiskey barrels must be stored in

Japan

for at least three years.

The major distilleries Suntory and Nikka are unable to meet the spectacular demand around the world for their most renowned bottles. And small Japanese and foreign companies are taking advantage of poorly defined Japanese regulations to sell fake Japanese whiskeys.

Distilled and stored in Japan

These companies import cheap whiskeys from Canada and other countries which they re-bottle in Japan before exporting them under the label "Japanese whisky". The new rules now require manufacturers to distill and age their products in Japan.

Enough to reassure actor Bill Murray. In 2003, in the film

Lost in Translation

by Sofia Coppola, he promoted Suntory's Hibiki 17, in a cult scene full of humor.

This clearer definition of the Japanese name will allow foreign enthusiasts to distinguish it from other products. In 2020, a very rare bottle of Yamazaki 55 aged in cherry barrels sold for around $800,000 at an auction in Hong Kong. A historic record for a Japanese whiskey to be drunk in moderation.

Read alsoJapanese whiskey victim of its success around the world

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