Japanese Craft Whisky Coming To Europe

By Richard Thomas

French drinks importer Les Whiskies Du Monde is set to have an example of Japanese craft whisky for sale next month.

Japanese whisky is widely perceived as being the domain of just two major producers, Nikka and Suntory, but that isn’t exactly true. Predating the American craft distilling explosion of recent years, Japan’s “Ji-Whisky” sector has been around for decades. One such distillery, Mondo Shuzo, started as a wine producer, but ventured into whisky distilling in the late 1960s. Their Isawa blended whisky was previously imported into Europe, but has long since sold out.

The new import coming through Les Whiskies Du Monde is the Fujiaki single malt. This whisky is a 10 year old, aged in ex-bourbon barrels and bottled at 43% abv. The pricing is expected to be between €45 and 50.