What’s shakin, cocktail fans?
Welcome to Episode 195 of The Modern Bar Cart Podcast!
This time around, we hang out with Nicholas Pollacchi (@barley2bottle on Instagram), co-founder of Shibui Whisky, a new Japanese Whisky company dedicated to ushering in a new era of premium aged grain distillates from the island nation of Japan.
In this fascinating deep dive on Japanese Whisky, past and present, some of the topics we discuss with Nicholas Pollacchi include:
The complicated history of Japanese whisky making, including the sharp left turn that makes this tradition diverge (and reconnect) surprisingly with other world whisky traditions.
How Shibui is looking to help Japanese distillers and master blenders embrace a new, more collaborative mindset and source more compelling cooperage.
Then, we embark upon an ambitious, 7-spirit tasting that spans Shibui’s Nigata and Okinawa collections, showcasing wheat, malt, and rice whiskies from some of Japan’s best artisan distillers.
During this tasting, we cover the nuances of different grain bases and barrel finishes (including the legendary mizunara oak grown in Japan), as well as different ways to think about Japanese whisky in the greater world whisky landscape.
Along the way, we discuss the difference between whisky and Okinowan Awamori, the effects of colonialism on the Japanese approach to distilled spirits, what to drink with legendary Scotch distiller William Grant, and much, much more.
This episode’s featured cocktail is: the Japanese whisky highball. It’s officially summer here in the US, which means, it’s time to start breaking out the hyper-refreshing, bubbly drinks before we overheat too much.
1.5 -2 oz of Japanese Whisky (go with something that retails for $50/bottle or less)
4-5 oz carbonated water – you can opt for sparkling or mineral water, but the large bubbles and sodium content of club soda tend to be a great fit.
In a highball glass with the best ice you can muster (this would, in a perfect world, be crystal clear and free of imperfections), pour in your whisky, top carefully with your sparkling water of choice, garnish with a nice, expressed citrus twist, and enjoy.
Here, we need to post a large gripe. A huge one. A glaring omission on the part of Google’s algorithm (or perhaps the internet in general). It has been pointed out on many different websites,blogs, and occasions that it is traditional to stir the Japanese Whisky highball for 13.5 clockwise rotations before serving – with, by some accounts – other optional flourishes.
BUT, when we try to locate the reasoning or purpose behind this numerology, we’re met with a whole buncha nothin’ – no primary sources, no secondary sources; just a whole lot of lazy people quoting (or NOT EVEN quoting) other lazy people – which means, dear listener, our Google skills have failed you, and perhaps we’ll need Nicholas to come back on the show and demystify this widely-held, but poorly supported notion that there is a set way to stir the Japanese whisky highball and that a certain number of revolutions of the spoon around the inside rim of the glass make a meaningful or ritualistic difference.
During this interview, we tasted through a number of Japanese whisky expressions blended and bottled by Shibui. The bottles we sampled include (in order):
Grain Select (NAS) [Niigata]
Pure Malt (NAS) [Niigata]
Pure Malt 10 Yr [Niigata]
Bourbon Cask Matured 10 Yr [Okinawa]
Virgin White Oak Matured 10 Yr [Okinawa]
Sherry Cask Matured 15 Yr [Okinawa]
Sherry Cask Matured 18 Yr [Okinawa]
As you can see, these whiskies reflect a mixture of different grains and cask finishes. The Grain Select, for example is made using 100% wheat, whereas the Okinawa expressions are made using traditional Japanese rice whisky. Each bottle has a stunningly different flavor profile, showcasing the wide array of aromas and textures.
This episode was made possible with editing and sound design by Samantha Reed, Japanese Whisky insights and tastings courtesy of Nicholas Pollacchi of Shibui Whisky, and a little bit of interview magic by yours truly. This has been a Modern Bar Cart production, copyright 2021.
This episode is also brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life.
Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.
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