Japanese Whiskey Obsession / Cherry Blossom Whiskeys of the Month

Murch Whiskey Club Founders and Members:

Continuing on with Cherry Blossom season we thought we would direct your attention to a fascinating NPR story about Japan's obsession with American nostalgia. The piece, which aired last night, described how a Japanese bar owner has accumulated perhaps the most expansive collections of centuries-old whiskeys in the world. You can listen to the story here and we have pasted an excerpt of the text below. The Smithsonian Magazine ran a longer piece about Rogin's Tavern [here]. The author's Flickr photostream is here. Perhaps the next Murch Whiskey Club outing can be to Rogin's Tavern, just outside of Osaka.

Also, as you watch the Cherry Blossoms start to bloom after this brutal winter we recommend a couple of japanese whiskeys this April. The Hakushu 12 yo Whiskey [About] and the Nikka Taketsuru 12 yo Whiskey [About]. Some of you may have sampled the Hakushu, donated by Carl Bergeron, at the auction. The Nikka Taketsuru is a new whiskey to America and it's only been available in America for several months.

- Murch Whiskey Club Staff

Excerpt From:

Japan's obsession with centuries-old bourbon says a lot about the country's culture

There's the story of his visit to a small little town called Moriguchi where Rogin's Tavern is. The bar only serves centuries-old bourbon. Some bottles date back to the 1800s.

Downey tasted bourbon from 1904. He says the bar is a "time capsule of taste."

Seiichiro Tatsumi is the bartender at Rogin's Tavern.

Downey says, for 25 years, Tatsumi "had been driving the back roads of America, stopping in every liquor store he saw and buying up old bottles nobody else wanted because he saw the promise and possibility of old bourbon."

Click here for the full story.