reg·u·la·tion /ˌreɡ(y)əˈlāSH(ə)n/
1. a rule or directive made and maintained by an authority.
2. the action or process of regulating or being regulated.
I spent a year and a half of my whisky journey as a spirits buyer in San Francisco. That magical, but tough, period made me taste a wide variety of spectacular whiskies, liquors and bourbons, as well as some liquids that I couldn’t believe what was matched up to what was written on the bottle. A massive percentage were controversial spirits which had little information about the source, country and aging conditions (ie. barrel types). This is all due to the lack of regulations in the manufacturing or exporting country.
In my honest opinion, transparency is one of the most important concepts in whisky making. When it comes to tasting whisky, I do want to know the history of the spirit that’s swirling in my glass.
Japanese whisky, without any doubt, is the most popular whisky trend right now. Though, at the same time, it is a big hype for those who have similar questions like me as I stated above. Where does that whisky come from? Is it really Japanese? Am I drinking a Highland whisky from Scotland that was imported to Japan in bulk? As others in the whisky field have mentioned, you can import Scotch whisky into Japan and call it Japanese whisky due to loose regulations in the country.
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Countries like Scotland, Ireland and the USA have regulations which keep the integrity of whisky, which was one of their national identities over centuries. However, Japanese whisky culture is rather younger than any of these countries. Japan is uncharted territory for whisky making. But really, what are the reasons for Japan lacking regulations and transparency?
