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Long overdue
rules and regulations governing Japanese
whisky production are set to come into
play from April this year.
There is no doubt that regulations for Japanese whisky
production have been very slack to say
the least, requiring only that the
spirit be distilled from cereal grain,
not rice and aged in barrels, with no
restrictions on grain or spirit
sourcing. Until now a Japanese whisky
producer could bottle entirely imported
spirit and repurpose it as Japanese
whisky.
So it is very welcome news that the
Japan Spirits and Liqueurs Makers
Association has announced a new set of
rules and regulations for the production
of Japanese whisky which should end all
this.
The new regulations will come into play
from 1 April 2021 but producers have
been given until 31 March 2024 to adhere
to the new laws.
The new regulations are very much
similar to those for Scotch whisky
production and state that the whole
production process must take place at a
distillery in Japan and must be aged for
at least three years, be bottled at a
minimum strength of 40% ABV, sadly like
Scotch whisky production they can still
use "plain caramel colouring" and it
doesn't look that they need to state on
the bottle whether it has been used or
not.
It is certainly about time that these
rules were brought in, they are long
overdue, especially considering the
price Japanese whisky fetches these
days.
The new Japanese whisky production
method rules are as follows:
- Raw Ingredients
Raw ingredients must be limited
to malted grains, other cereal
grains, and water extracted in Japan.
Malted grains must always be used.
- Production Method
Production: Saccharification,
fermentation, and distillation must
be carried out at a distillery in
Japan. Alcohol content at the time of
distillation must be less than 95%
ABV.
Aging: The distilled product must be
poured into wooden casks not
exceeding a capacity of 700 litres
and matured in Japan for a period of
at least 3 years thereafter.
Bottling: Bottling must take place
in Japan, with alcoholic strength of
at least 40% ABV as of such time.
Other: Plain caramel colouring can
be used.
If the current slack rules for
Japanese whisky production hasn't put
you off, I hope not as there are some
outstanding Japanese whiskies to try,
then you will find a great range of
Japanese whisky available from specialist online whisky
retailers such as
The Whisky Exchange,
The Whisky Shop and Master of Malt
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