The golden colored Kikori is classified as a single grain whiskey. It’s aged for a minimum of three years in American Oak, French Limousin Oak, and Sherry Casks to instill a woodier flavor alongside the more traditional floral notes.

Kikori is a smooth drinking blended Japanese whiskey ideal for versatile use or the whiskey drinker looking for an entirely different story to tell friends and family over a bottle.

9. Hibiki Harmony Japanese Whisky

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Hibiki means resonance in Japanese and is a premier blended offering from the Suntory Distillery. Malt whiskies from Yamazaki and the brand’s Hakushu distillery are combined with grain whisky from the Chita distillery.

The whiskies used to create Hibiki Harmony are drawn from 5 different types of cask before bottling, including American white oak casks, Sherry casks and Mizunara oak casks. It’s simply balanced; honey, orange, and herbs are clearly noticeable, finished off with the oaken sheen left from the maturation process.

Underrating Japanese whisky is doing your tastebuds a disservice, especially their premier blended whisky offerings which show commitment to innovation and charismatic flavor matching.

10. The Kurayoshi Pure Malt

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The Kurayoshi Pure Malt is A blended malt whisky from little-known Japanese whisky producer, Matsui Shuzou, whose distillery can be found in the Tottori Prefecture, Japan’s least populous area. The Kurayoshi is made with single malt Scotch whisky sourced from the UK (likely Speyside and Highland casks) then blended with Japanese whisky and volcanic-stone-filtered water.

A three-year-old whisky matured in bourbon casks and colored a deep gold, the Pure Malt creates a nice balance between oak and sweet malt on the nose, with gentle Japanese style fruitiness emerging on the palate with hints of bread and corn. There’s subtle poached apples and pears, with a splash of vanilla and a thrust of spicy warmth at the finish, which adds to the Scottish whisky vibes of this expression.