Japan shakes Scots pride with award-winning whisky

By Leika Kihara

EDINBURGH, Scotland (Reuters Life!) - Japan is getting serious about whisky, winning awards in global competitions and shaking Scotland's pride in its national drink.

Japanese liquor maker Suntory's Hibiki was chosen as best blended whisky for the second straight year at the World Whiskies Awards, a competition hosted by Britain's Whisky Magazine in April.

Yoichi, another Japanese brand made by Nikka, was picked best single malt whisky at the competition where journalists, retailers, master blenders and distillers tasted 200 whiskies.

For some locals in Scotland, the birthplace of whisky and known for its prestigious brands, it was hard to swallow.

"Going by what the Scottish put into their whisky, I think it would be hard for Japanese whisky to be better," said 39-year-old Glaswegian John Jamieson. "I can't see them (Scots) raising a glass to it."

Those who have tried a glass of Japanese whisky, however, seem to like it.

While still a small presence in Europe, Japanese whiskies are benefiting from the recent boom in malt, instead of blended, whisky that puts single malt whiskies with rare and distinctive qualities - like Suntory's - in the spotlight.

Last year, Suntory sold about 48,000 bottles of another award-winning single malt whisky called Yamazaki, 20 times the amount it sold four years ago.