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Sale
Rapid Ship
Spirits
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...
12 FREE
Sale
Rapid Ship
Spirits
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...
12 FREE
WE
91
WKY
90
Sale
Rapid Ship
Spirits
750ml
Bottle: $99.75 $105.00
12 FREE
Sale
Rapid Ship
Spirits
750ml
Bottle: $148.50 $199.94
Prunes, forest honey, vanilla seeds, dark chocolate cookies, and Brazil nut, with hints of chocolate orange and...
12 FREE
WKY
94
Sale
Rapid Ship
Spirits
750ml
Bottle: $249.94 $349.94
Showing an attractive straw-gold color, this mature whisky has bright flavors of baked cereal grains, toasted vanilla...
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UBC
92
Rapid Ship
Spirits
750ml
Bottle: $69.23
Ambrosial notes of sprouted grain, honey, bacon fat and orange blossom accompany deeper notes of toasted hazelnut....
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UBC
93
WKY
92
Sale
Rapid Ship
Spirits
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...
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Sale
Rapid Ship
Spirits
750ml
Bottle: $46.46 $48.91
An accomplished blend packed with appealing flavors from Miyagikyo and Yoichi Distilleries. Honey, baked lemon,...
12 FREE
WKY
89
Sale
Rapid Ship
Spirits
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...
12 FREE
WKY
94
BTI
91
Rapid Ship
Spirits
750ml
Bottle: $299.94
It's the 100th anniversary of the marriage of Masataka and Rita Taketsuru, and there's plenty to celebrate, with...
12 FREE
WKY
92
Sale
Rapid Ship
Spirits
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...
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Rapid Ship
Red
750ml
Bottle: $13.01
Purato Nero d'Avola is packed with punchy fruit, with an excellent structure, yet is completely approachable.
Rapid Ship
Spirits
750ml
Bottle: $39.25
The subtle and demure nose shows aromatics of lightly toasted butter biscuit, clover honey, dried Bergamot peel, and...
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UBC
92
BTI
91
Sale
Rapid Ship
Spirits
750ml
Bottle: $87.93 $90.59
Takamine Koji Whiskey is made with the patented Takamine Process, which uses an ancient Japanese mold, koji, to...
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Sale
Rapid Ship
Spirits
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,...
12 FREE
UBC
94
WE
90
Sale
Rapid Ship
Spirits
750ml
Bottle: $49.66 $52.27
This small-batch whisky has a mild, almost neutral aroma and silky, spiced palate. Each sip opens with cinnamon and...
12 FREE
WE
90
WKY
90

Japanese Whiskey Nero D'avola Pigato Rapid Ship

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.

Italy’s largest island, Sicily, has a wine producing history that can put most other European regions to shame. It was producing quality wines before the days of the Roman empire, and even the Ancient Greeks were not the first to cultivate vines on the island. For as long as anyone knows, the key grape varietal of Sicily has been Nero d’Avola, the beautiful, deep blue skinned grape which produces the region’s characterful, powerful red wines. While in the past, Nero d’Avola was mainly used as a blending grape, due to its deep color and intensely full body, it is today being increasingly celebrated as a single varietal wine grape, and is perfect for those who like their wines boisterous, loud and strong.



Nero d’Avola is grown pretty much everywhere on Sicily, as demand for wines made from this grape have never been higher. Despite its power and body, it is quite a versatile grape - it can be aged in oak barrels, which produces a dense and dark wine which puts its intense characteristics to good use, but it is also often drunk quite young, which allows its jammy, plummy character to come forward. It is also used to make rose wines in some appellations of Sicily, demonstrating a softer side to this otherwise heavy, deeply flavorful grape.