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750ml
Bottle:
$34.90
Very intense and elegant ruby red colour; broad and complex fruity fragrance with hints of plum, cherry jam and...
750ml
Bottle:
$9.94
12 bottles:
$8.94
Notes of ripe plums, cherry jam and tobacco characterize the bouquet of this pure varietal Primitivo from the Apulia...
750ml
Bottle:
$76.94
Undergoing a four-week maceration followed by approximately nine months in French oak (50% new), Es is intoxicating:...
750ml
Bottle:
$100.70
$106.00
Kaiy? whisky is matured in the finest Japanese Mizunara oak casks. These casks are handmade due to Mizunara oak’s...
750ml
Bottle:
$78.17
$82.28
This was aged in Japan's rare Mizunara oak for the entirety of its maturation, which includes three-month ocean...
750ml
Bottle:
$148.50
$199.94
Prunes, forest honey, vanilla seeds, dark chocolate cookies, and Brazil nut, with hints of chocolate orange and...
750ml
Bottle:
$249.94
$349.94
Showing an attractive straw-gold color, this mature whisky has bright flavors of baked cereal grains, toasted vanilla...
750ml
Bottle:
$69.23
Ambrosial notes of sprouted grain, honey, bacon fat and orange blossom accompany deeper notes of toasted hazelnut....
750ml
Bottle:
$74.79
$78.73
This unique expression was developed in 2013 as a result of Nikka's continuous experiments to widen the variety and...
750ml
Bottle:
$46.46
$48.91
An accomplished blend packed with appealing flavors from Miyagikyo and Yoichi Distilleries. Honey, baked lemon,...
750ml
Bottle:
$79.94
$89.94
Number 1 in the 2018 Top 20. Notably balanced and elegant, the colorful palette of whiskies combines for tremendous...
750ml
Bottle:
$299.94
It's the 100th anniversary of the marriage of Masataka and Rita Taketsuru, and there's plenty to celebrate, with...
750ml
Bottle:
$110.91
$116.75
This is a single malt from the Yoichi distillery, Nikka’s first distillery built in 1934. The founder Masataka...
750ml
Bottle:
$17.94
12 bottles:
$17.58
Intense and complex of ripe red pulp fruit (cherry, plum, raspberry) in a balanced bottling with light wooden notes....
750ml
Bottle:
$22.80
Dark ruby red, with garnet hues. It opens with notes of ripe blackberry and raspberry, followed by intense aromas of...
750ml
Bottle:
$39.25
The subtle and demure nose shows aromatics of lightly toasted butter biscuit, clover honey, dried Bergamot peel, and...
750ml
Bottle:
$87.93
$90.59
Takamine Koji Whiskey is made with the patented Takamine Process, which uses an ancient Japanese mold, koji, to...
750ml
Bottle:
$199.94
$224.94
Deep gold color. Lovely opening aroma is delicately spicy and brown rice-like in its grain intensity. In the mouth,...
750ml
Bottle:
$24.90
A heady dose of sweet spices grace the nose, with baked black-cherry and plum tones at the core. This is ultrasoft...
Japanese Whiskey Mencia Primitivo In-Store or Curbside pickup
Whisky might not be the first thing that springs to mind when we think of Japanese fine produce, but over the past one hundred years, this fascinating and multi-faceted country has diligently forged a unique whisky identity which is growing in popularity, and which is entirely its own.
The story of Japanese whisky begins in 1918, when Masataka Taketsuru was sent to Scotland to undertake a tour of single malt distilleries in the Highlands, and bring home a knowledge of whisky and distillation skills. He returned full of inspiration, helped no doubt by his new Scottish wife, and alongside his friend, Shinjiro Torii, set up what would become a successful whisky industry.
Today, the Japanese whisky industry is spread over a relatively small handful of distilleries, which continue to use Scottish techniques and recipes, but with a hefty dose of distinctly Japanese experimentalism. This is displayed most obviously in the barrelling techniques the Japanese use - to create a distinctly Oriental set of tasting notes, native Japanese oakwood casks are used for ageing, alongside casks taken from plum wine producers, which impart a beautiful set of floral flavors to the whisky.
While some distilleries produce some excellent single malts, the majority of Japanese whiskies are blended, which reveals a unique set of flavors and aromas ranging from honeysuckle and orange blossom, to toffee and acetone.
As with many European grape varietals, there is some debate regarding the precise origins of the Primitivo grape. Most people now agree that it probably came from Croatia, where it is still used widely in the production of red wine, and it known as Tribidrag. However, today it is a grape most commonly associated with the powerful red wines of Puglia, the heel of Italy’s boot, where the intense sunshine and brisk Mediterranean breezes produce grapes of remarkable character and balance. Primitivo is a dark grape, known for producing intense, inky, highly tannic wines, most notably the naturally sweet Dolce Naturale and the heavy and complex Primitivo di Manduria wines. Primitivo tends to be naturally very high in both tannin and alcohol, making it ideal for both barrel and cellar ageing, which brings out its more rounded and interesting features.
Primitivo is not the easiest grape to grow or manage, and it has had something of a difficult century. Indeed, by the 1990s, there was little interest in Puglian wines in general, and winemakers were neglecting their Primitivo vineyards and looking to other, more commercially viable varietals. However, the last decade has seen this grape come well and truly back into fashion, with new techniques and a heightened interest in native Italian grape varietals bringing Primitivo back into the spotlight. It is now widely loved for its intensity and ability to be paired with strongly flavored foods.