Nikka Yoichi

In 1975 a friend asked me if I wanted to participate in the marketing of a new whiskey, India. A few days later he arrived with a brown bottle in the shape of an eagle and poured me a glass of amber liquid, which was unlike any other whiskey I had ever seen. He smelled of whiskey. But it tasted like motor oil, with an aftertaste of Liquafruta - a particularly revolting cold remedy preferred by an aunt I spent my summers as a child. Or at least that's what I remember now, thirty years later.

Me never to get involved in this particular area, and I prevented imported Scotch-doubles since. It is therefore with some surprise that I read that 20 years, Yoichi, distilled by Nikka, beside the Sea of Japan was voted best in the world of single malt whiskey at The World Whisky Awards, hosted by the United Kingdom Whisky Magazine in April.

Another triumph Japanese Suntory Hibiki receiving the accolade for best in the world, blended whiskey, for the second consecutive year. This must be particularly galling for Scottish distillers, as it was in Scotland that Masataka Taketsuru learned the art of distilling in the 1920s. When he returned to Japan, he participated in the distillery Suntory whiskey is now.

The winners were chosen in a blind tasting by a panel of master blenders sixteen journalists and distillers from a selection of two hundred whiskeys worldwide. Yoichi beat some formidable local names, including last year's winner Talisker 18 years old, distilled on the Isle of Skye.

The judges said Japanese distillers producing excellent Scotch with the variable climate in Japan assisting maturation, and the creation of a whiskey with a nose more interesting. Traditional devices such as coal distillation stills, rarely used in Scotland, have also been credited to add flavor to Japanese products.

A Suntory spokesman said that while exports to Europe have been relatively weak, they have managed to increase sales of their brand Yamazaki a little over two thousand bottles four years ago to forty- eight thousand bottles last year. Monoki Kiyoshi, director of marketing for Suntory Europe was very upbeat after his victory, saying: "15 years ago we were told it was absurd to try to sell Japanese whiskey to the world. Now we many, many fans enjoying Japanese whiskey and looking for new brands to try. "

With exports of nearly fifteen per cent, the Scottish industry probably does not see Japan as a major threat. But last year Scottish distillers decided to make a combined investment £ 400 million pounds (800 million) to be spent over the next three years to improve existing distilleries and building new distilleries and the storage. They hope this investment will give them the ability to protect existing markets and cope with growing demand from emerging markets in China and India.

Although they began making whiskey there eighty years Yamazaki Distillery, the Japanese seem to have learned a lot and the consensus seems to be that the price of Scotch whiskey makers still deserved their reputation, but could not afford to be complacent.

Tetsuji Hisamitsu, chief blender at the Yoichi distillery, just smiled and said he was "very moved" by the award.