‘This is very special’, Seiichi Koshimizu said to me 25 years ago as two glasses of reddish whisky were placed in front of me. It was my first day in Japan, therefore Yamazaki was also my first Japanese distillery. This made sense as it was where, in 1924, single malt whisky was first made in the country.
I picked up the glasses, checking the colour for clues – the crimson hue seen in American whiskey – a Suntory experiment in Japanese-style Bourbon? The liquid adhered to...
