Page 4C
East Oregonian
EAT, DRINK & EXPLORE
Saturday, March 18, 2017
Japan one-ups Scotch with whisky, coveted around the world
By YURI KAGEYAMA
AP Business Writer
YAMAZAKI, Japan — A
dim storage room surrounded
by bamboo groves and
pastoral hills is filled wall-
to-wall with 3,000 wooden
barrels. Here sleeps, for
years, sometimes decades,
prized Japanese whisky.
The Suntory distillery in
Yamazaki, near the ancient
capital of Kyoto, is where the
first drop of made-in-Japan
malt whisky was distilled in
1924.
These days, Japanese
whisky is winning accolades
from around the world, often
beating the products from
Scotland its makers set out to
emulate.
In 2003, the Yamazaki
12 Years single malt whisky
became the first Japanese
whisky to win the gold medal
at the International Spirits
Challenge, the most author-
itative liquor competition in
the world. Last year, Hibiki,
another Suntory label, won
the World’s Best Blended
Whisky prize at the World
Whiskies Awards, for the
fourth time. A bottle of
Yamazaki Sherry Cask, aged
25 years, fetches thousands
of dollars each.
“They have a lot more
earthiness to them. They are
much more a product of their
environment,” Wes Barbee,
a 23-year-old consultant
from Houston, gushed as he
joined dozens of Japanese
and foreign tourists visiting
the Yamazaki distillery and
lining up for a taste.
“American and Canadian
whisky has nothing on this.
It’s mass production. This is
very intimate. The flavors are
carefully chosen,” he said.
Japan Inc. abounds with
stories of manufacturers like
automaker Toyota Motor
Corp. and musical instrument
manufacturer Yamaha Corp.
that at first imitated Western
pioneers in their industries
but ended up matching if not
outdoing them.
Suntory founder Shinjiro
Torii was determined to
introduce Scotch to Japan.
Overcoming early failures,
he eventually adapted his
methods to distill a whisky
palatable to Japanese.
Experts believe that aside
from Japan’s clean and tasty
ground water, its four distinct
seasons help to deepen
whisky flavors during years
of aging.
AP Photo/Annette Dorfman
In this March 10 photo, Festa bar owner Masae
Matsumoto, second right, chats with her customers
over Japanese whisky at Festa bar in San Francisco,
Calif., thousands of miles away from Japan. Crystal
Roseberry, far right, was trying a Suntory’s Yamazaki
12, at $40 a drink, for the first time.
AP Photo/Koji Ueda
In this March 8, 2017 photo, Suntory’s chief blender Shinji Fukuyo demonstrates
how he examines the whisky at the Suntory distillery in Yamazaki, near Kyoto,
western Japan. “What’s important for whisky is that its deliciousness must deepen
with aging, sitting in the casks for a long time,” said Fukuyo, 55.
Sounds great, but I don’t live in Japan
The selection of Japanese whisky might be limited here in Eastern Oregon, but you
don’t need to book a flight to Japan to enjoy the sought-after spirit.
If you ever find yourself in the Eugene area, make sure to stop by Izakaya Meiji, 345
Van Buren St. The restaurant offers a seasonal menu of Japanese comfort food and small
plates for snacking while drinking. Their bar features over 100 whiskies (including some of
the Japanese whiskies featured in the story), sake, wine, shochu, beer, and craft cocktails.
And if Eugene is still too far away to go for a drink, check out www.masterofmalt.com.
They offer a huge selection of alcoholic beverages from around the world and will ship
right to your front door, granted you are 21 or older. Cheers!
Scotland’s many distill-
eries make blending whisky
flavors easy. Suntory had
to develop its own array
of flavors using various
temperatures and combina-
tions of yeasts for fermenta-
tion, as well as more complex
methods of distilling whisky.
After fermentation, the
beige liquid gets heated and
distilled in “pot stills,” huge
metallic containers of varying
shapes that can quicken or
delay the distilling process,
yielding nuances of flavors.
The result is a colorless
liquid that smells almost
like antiseptic that is stored
in barrels, or casks, in
a cavernous warehouse
designed for aging whiskies.
No nails are used in the casks,
whose strips of old wood are
bound by tightened metal
rings. Aging gives whisky its
color and personality — what
whisky lovers say distin-
guishes it from wine or beer.
The casks, used over and
over again, include old wine
and bourbon barrels. Some
are from Europe and the
U.S. and others are made of
Japanese oak. Suntory’s three
distilleries in Japan house a
million casks.
It’s a mystery exactly
how whisky ages, says Shinji
Fukuyo, Suntory’s chief
blender.
Flavors of each cask are
mixed — just right, like a
“jigsaw puzzle,” he says — to
create, and recreate, various
kinds of whisky and develop
new ones.
A serious-looking, slight
man with graying hair,
Fukuyo says he avoids garlic
or greasy fish, especially for
breakfast, to keep his taste
buds pure for his job.
“What’s important for
whisky is that its delicious-
ness must deepen with aging,
sitting in the casks for a
long time,” said Fukuyo,
55, demonstrating how he
examines the whisky in a
glass, swirling the crystalline
amber spirit against the light.
He gently rolls a sip
on his tongue, then spits it
out: Fukuyo does 100 such
tastings a day, sometimes
more than 200. He switches
positions of the glasses on the
table to remember what he
just tasted. There is no time
for note-taking.
“It’s a clean and beautiful
taste. It’s hard to explain in
words,” he said of Japanese
whisky.
Japanese whisky aged in
a white oak cask has a hint
of citrus or green-apple.
One aged in a sherry cask
is fragrant, rich and sweet,
evocative of dried fruit.
Whisky aged in Japanese
oak and smoky whisky have
pungent, herbal flavors.
The growing popularity
of Japan’s cuisine has helped
win a following for its
whisky, which was designed
to be consumed with food,
experts say.
Nikka Whisky, a unit of
Asahi Breweries, froze its
overseas expansion in 2014,
finding it impossible to keep
up with demand, says Emiko
Kaji, who manages Nikka’s
international business.
Nikka Whisky From the
Barrel, packaged in a sleek
COUNTRY-STYLE CAU-
LIFLOWER BREAKFAST
SKILLET
Melissa d’Arabian via AP
Country-style breakfast skillet with eggs, bacon and
vegetables.
Not a lumberjack? You can
still eat a filling breakfast
By MELISSA D’ARABIAN
Associated Press
I am a morning person
(by choice, not nature, but
that’s a story for another
time) and breakfast is my
favorite meal of the day.
Strong coffee and a
hearty morning meal make
me feel like I’m on vacation,
luxuriating in hashed-brown-
and-bacon heaven, without
a health or calorie care in
the world. Breakfast menus
at truck stops and diners
have incredible appeal
to a closeted lumberjack
like me, with words like
grand-slam and breakfast
skillet promising a meal that
will fill me up for most of
the day.
But, eating like a lumber-
jack when you have a desk
job makes no sense, unless
you really are on vacation.
For a more quotidian option,
try my Country-Style Skillet
Breakfast.
I use just a few strips
of real pork bacon to keep
things feeling authentically
diner-ish. Onions, sweet
yellow peppers, spinach
and garlic all add a ton of
flavor (and nutrients) but
hardly any calories. The real
nutrient and calorie-saving
workhorse of this recipe,
though, is: cauliflower.
I swap out the break-
fast-skillet staple hashed
browns for riced cauliflower.
It works beautifully, and not
only do you save the calories
of the potatoes, but all the
extra fat you need to make
those hashed browns crispy
and tasty.
You can find riced
cauliflower in most neigh-
borhood grocery stores these
days, either in the packaged
produce aisle or the freezer.
Or, simply pulse up a bunch
of cauliflower florets in a
food processor until it is cut
into rice-sized pieces. The
cauliflower is just bland
enough that it takes on the
flavors of the rest of the
ingredients and provides
enough heft to house
eggs broken right into the
skillet. The result is rustic,
gorgeous, and filling. Yet
another reason to celebrate
our country’s current
obsession with cauliflower.
Start to finish: 25 minutes
Servings: 4
• 3 slices of bacon, cut into
small pieces
• ½ yellow or sweet onion,
chopped (about 1 cup)
• ½ yellow bell pepper, chopped
(about ½ cup)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano or
thyme
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 3 cup cauliflower rice (raw)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 10 ounce frozen chopped
spinach, thawed and excess
moisture gently squeezed out
• ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
• ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Chopped parsley, for garnish
• 4 eggs, cracked into 4 small
ramekins or bowls
Preheat oven to 350 F. In large
oven-safe skillet, cook bacon over
medium low heat until starting to
crisp, about 5 minutes. Add onion
and bell pepper and cook until
tender, about 6 minutes. Add the
minced garlic, herbs, and smoked
paprika and stir.
Add the cauliflower and cook
until tender, about 5 minutes,
stirring frequently. Add the lemon
juice, stir, and then the spinach,
and stir until well-combined.
Remove from heat and sprinkle the
cheese evenly over the mixture.
Gently make four wells in the
mixture with a wooden spoon.
Spray each well with nonstick
spray. Pour one egg into each
well. Bake until eggs are done,
about 7-8 minutes for runny yolk,
longer for firmer yolk. Sprinkle
with black pepper, more salt if
needed, parsley and serve.
Nutrition information per
serving: 219 calories; 117
calories from fat; 13 g fat (5 g
saturated; 0 g trans fats); 235 mg
cholesterol; 804 mg sodium; 11 g
carbohydrate; 3 g fiber; 4 g sugar;
15 g protein.
AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko
In this March 10 photo, shot bar Zoetrope owner and
bartender Atsushi Horigami adjusts the bottles of Ja-
pan-made whisky at his bar in Tokyo.
bottle, is doing especially
well in Europe, she says.
Sukhinder Singh, owner
of London-based retailer The
Whisky Exchange, says he
has had to ration his supplies
of Japanese whisky to hotels
and restaurants. He never
seems to have enough.
At first, Japanese victories
in blindfold whisky contests
baffled connoisseurs. By now
the Japanese blends have
won over even the skeptics,
he said.
When whisky expert Jim
Murray voted the Yamazaki
Sherry Cask the Best Whisky
in the World for his 2015
Whisky Bible, its price shot
up overnight. Prices of other
Japanese whiskies have also
been rising.
“Everyone went: We want
to buy Japanese,” Singh said
in a phone interview. “The
problem we have at the
moment is not selling it. It’s
getting it.
“We can sell every bottle
we can get,” he said.
Zoetrope, a tiny bar in
a dingy Tokyo backstreet
building, is famed among
lovers of Japanese whisky.
“Japanese whisky has an
unpredictability that makes
it fun, and the highly skillful
Japanese blenders have
created a subtle taste with an
impeccable balance,” said
Atsushi Horigami, Zoetrope’s
owner
and
bartender,
standing before counters
and shelves crammed with
colorful bottles.
Thousands of miles
(kilometers) away at Festa, a
bar in San Francisco, banker
Crystal Roseberry was trying
Suntory’s Yamazaki 12, at
$40 a drink, for the first time.
“Soft, silky, not jarring,
elegant, friendly. And it still
has a structure of a good
whisky, which I think is very
important,” she said in an
interview over an online call.
“This whisky is intriguing,”
Bar
owner
Masae
Matsumoto was glad to have
stocked up on Yamazaki.
“It’s gotten impossible to
get over the last six months,”
she said. “Japanese whisky
tastes so good.”
Hot tubs, fire pits in Appalachia
for offseason bargains
By MICHAEL VIRTANEN
Associated Press
ROANOKE, W.Va. — The sky
faded toward cobalt over the rolling
horizon and its bare hardwood forest,
the faux street lamps in the foreground
lighting the outdoor walkway and
swimming pool. One man lingered
in the adjoining Jacuzzi despite the
30-degree chill that blew mist off the
heated water.
The moon gradually cast a narrow,
shimmering line across the lake. I
sat at a high bar table sipping peach
moonshine watching through picture
windows as winter dusk fell in the
Appalachian Mountains.
The state of West Virginia owns this
resort, called Stonewall, along with
other upscale resorts with golf courses,
indoor pools, Adirondack-style lodges
and miles of scenic hiking trails for
laid-back getaways in the offseason.
Thanks to offseason bargains, a stay
can be had for as little as $50 a night.
The wood fire in the large stone
hearth threw heat into Stonewall’s
high-ceilinged lodge. Guests drifted in
and out, warmed at the fire, or lounged
on the sofas. Soft jazz played in the
background. A couple nestled in the
dark-paneled library next door reading
in club chairs under lamps.
The downstairs restaurant and
tavern were busy. The bartender said
she had only two kinds of moonshine
at the moment — peach and coffee-fla-
vored — and poured the peach into
a small cordial glass. Several small
distillers produce versions of the
liquor in West Virginia, where it
traditionally came from corn mash in
Prohibition-era stills.
The winter cold had driven me and
my companion in from the outdoor fire
pit, where more wood was burning.
Fixings for s’mores were offered:
chocolate bars, marshmallows and
graham crackers. The s’mores were
gratis, as was the upgrade we got to a
lakeside room, though we’d booked
an ordinary room at a $40 discount,
for $129. The resort was half-full on
the weekend with about 200 people.
Staff couldn’t have been friendlier.
Desk clerks checked us in four hours
early. Taxes and a resort fee added $30
to the bill.
Heading to our room later, we saw
families still playing in the indoor half
of the pool and its adjoining Jacuzzi,
kept at 88 and 103 degrees, respec-
tively, same as the water outdoors
where we swam earlier.
In the sunny afternoon, we walked
out on the boardwalk that crosses part
of the lake, heading toward the marina
and the campground already booked
solid for the summer. We decided
against a longer walk on trails through
the woods. Instead, we drove 15
minutes to see the sprawling, gothic
Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in
Weston. Built in the 1800s as a sanc-
tuary for the mentally ill, it housed
2,500 patients in the 1950s and closed
in 1994. It’s now a national landmark.
We didn’t take the tour.
Stonewall’s golf course with
Arnold Palmer’s name on it was
empty except for a few swans, the golf
shop and its restaurant closed until
spring. The lodge’s health spa was
open, taking appointments for facials
and massages, discounted to $50 on
Thursdays in March. The resort is
a about two-hour drive south from
Pittsburgh.
That was also the cost of a winter
room at West Virginia’s Twin Falls
Resort State Park, where we stayed in
February, after the desk clerk knocked
$25 off our reserved low winter rate
and upgraded our room. It’s located
up a winding road in southern
West Virginia’s coal country, on a
mountaintop surrounded by its own
golf course and hiking trails through
forests that are a nature preserve.
There were few other guests midweek
in February. We saw three at breakfast.
The lodge has 47 rooms and an indoor
pool.
According to state officials, the
parks had about 7 million visitors last
year and nearly 700,000 overnight
guests. Discounts include golf passes
for any of the four resort courses, a
$50 rate for any standard room at any
lodge in January and package offers
updated monthly.