invalyd

I believe 3 shops total, there is no FaSoLa.

stb1001

At Narita now and they have Hibiki 21 for 50,000 JPY

Mizunara

Quick write-up from the 2019 Tokyo Whisky Festival. Got into the venue at 12 right when it opened, and popped into a 12:15 paid seminar from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society. Good tastings, but I don't think it quite convinced me to open up a membership at those prices. Tried for the Mars Komagatake bottle lottery, but came up short, so I spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the booths, using that bottle money for trying samples, and chatting with the smaller Japanese distillers. I ended up leaving around 3. It's currently almost 11pm, and the buzz has finally worn off.

Flyertalk isn't great with posting multiple images, so here's an Imgur album.

Samples I tried:

• (paid at cost for the seminar) SMWS 12.21 L'amour amore (BenRiach, Speyside; 1st fill bourbon)
• (paid at cost for the seminar) SMWS 13.67 Gentian Cocktail (Dalmore, Highland; 2nd fill bourbon)
• (paid at cost for the seminar) SMWS Single Cask 39 (Linkwood, Speyside; living cask, Ololoso sherry)
• (paid at cost for the seminar) SMWS 53.270 Preparing for skinny dipping (Caol Ila, Islay; 2nd fill hogshead)
• (free) Kirin Fuji Gotemba, straight from the cask
• (free) Akkeshi New Born Foundations 1 (I've tried all 4 in the past, but this is my favorite), bourbon casks non-peated
• (free) Akkeshi New Born Foundations 3, Mizunara puncheons non-peated
• (200 yen) Suntory Essence Volume 3, Clean Type
• (400 yen) Suntory Essence Volume 3, Rich Type (between the two, I preferred this, but these also felt like a bit of a step down from Volumes 1 and 2 in my opinion)
• (free) Ichiro's Malt Chichibu, 9 years Oloroso Sherry
• (3000 yen) Glenfarclas Family Cask distilled 1980, bottled 2018
• (1000 yen) Nagahama Distillery, 2nd fill sherry non-peated
• (free) Mars Komagatake Single Malt 2019, Tsunuki Aging
• (free) Mars Komagatake Single Malt Limited Edition 2019
• (free) Wakatsuru Moon Glow, Half Moon 2019, 10 years blended
• (free) Kanosuke SS1 New Born, 20 months matured, sherry cask

My non-Japanese favorite had to be that Glenfarclas (I have a weak spot for their older bottles), while between all the Japanese whiskies, the Komagatake Tsunuki Aging took the cake for me.

Suffice to say, if any of you have an afternoon to kill tomorrow for the second day, I'd say it's well worth it. Price of admission is cheaper than the round-trip train ticket to Hakushu, and you get to try stuff from all over the country, much of it for free. For the big producers, Suntory was also offering Y12 / Y18 / H18 / H Blender's Choice / H21 samples at their regular (and extremely generous) tasting prices, while Nikka only had their blends and NAS Yoichi / Miyagikyo samples.

Kilian Zoll

Sort of a side question, but does anyone know if Japan-bought alcohol will be confiscated by customs at a European transit point that isn't my final destination, if the bottles are in my carry-on? Is there any way to buy tax free whisky at Narita/Haneda and then go back out and put it in your checked-in luggage?

Tokaitalbo

they're sealed in the duty free bags, as long as you don't tamper with the sealed duty free bags you should be fine having them in your carry-on

Kilian Zoll

I've heard certain European airports don't accept bags that have been sealed outside the EU, and requires it to be a specific type of bag. Not sure if this is accurate though. Would be a shame to buy JPY 100k+ worth of whisky only to have it confiscated...

Tokaitalbo

i see, we've had no issues with the sealed duty free bags in a couple of the EU countries before

i guess you can always just leave airside after you buy the alcohol and say you want to check your 2nd bag

invalyd

Why would it be confiscated? The worst case scenario is you check in another bag.

jashsu

Not sure how it's handled in Europe but some people have had to abandon their duty free alcohol in 2014 and before when connecting from an intl to domestic flight in the US. Since then it seems that TSA's rules have softened on STEBs.

invalyd

This is 2019. As previous poster said, once can easily go landside and reshuffle their luggage.

jashsu

Might be hard if the luggage gets checked thru to the final destination though. I guess worst case scenario you could try to find a box at an airport post office landside and repack into that.

invalyd

Most people travel with a carry-on suitcase

jashsu

Heh. My carryon is always at full capacity on a return flight from Japan. There would never be any space inside it for rechecking duty free liquor. I would recommend bringing a packable/folding boston bag and then repacking everything from your hardsided carryon into that and checking that.

In any case though, a cursory search online seems to suggest EU airports are okay with STEBs. The duty free clerks will ask what your final destination is and where/if you are connecting and provide guidance anyway.

Kilian Zoll

Thanks for the responses -- will see what the best solution is.

invalyd

Another Ginza duty free lottery coming up next Wednesday, Dec 4. Hakushu 18 is not part of the lottery again, but they received 20 bottles this morning which you can freely purchase until sold out.