One of the great perks of being a research scientist is that I get to travel the world for workshops and conferences. Often these are held in attractive locations. The first workshop I attended as a PhD candidate was held at a castle owned by the Montepulciano wine consortium, in the Italian town of the same name (of course, the conference included a wine tasting). I later attended a summer school on the French west coast, that combined science and sailing lessons. And I frequently spend time in Paris.
In August 2023 I went to Tokyo to present my research at STATPHYS28, one of the largest conferences in my discipline of statistical physics. Naturally, I arranged to stay a few extra days on holiday. It was my first time to Japan. I now have a certificate of having flown over the North Pole!
The conference was intense but went well (or conferences I should say, as I also attended a satellite workshop of the main event in the days after). All in all, I think there were over a thousand participants! Alas, on one day we were all crowded in a massive hall for a poster session, and I think it was there that I caught a nasty flu. Corona? I don’t know. But by the time the conferences were done and holidays began I was bed-ridden with fever.
I got better eventually, even good enough to have a few drams, but with a somewhat impaired nose. More than drinking though, I ended up checking out the most interesting whisky shops in Tokyo, on a mission to find a bargain. Of course I did a lot more in Tokyo than search for whisky—the SIGHTS and the FOOD! I’ll let the picture speak for themselves … so we can get onto the whisky.
An assortment of lesser whisky shops
There were many shops with a decent selection of whisky. Prices for “regular” stuff was acceptable, but more expensive than Germany, as expected.
Japanese delicacy store, Asakusa
This Japanese Delicacy store a short walk from the Senso-Ji (I can’t find it on the map now) had a whisky section and even sold drams over the counter. Here I had my first one after (partial) recovery, which would turn out to be the only Japanese whisky I drank in Japan.
Tanakaya, Mejiro
This shop stood out in my research as one with a particularly broad inventory of enthusiast Scotch. I came away with a bottle of 28yo (1992) Jura bottled at 50.2% for Wonder of Spirits (no whisky base entry). Not cheap at € 225, but on paper not a bad deal if the cask delivers on the promise of the bottle specs.
M’s tasting room, Itabashi
Fun place! Lots of open bottles of IB stuff with price tags on; one could bring bottles to the counter, and they would pour and take the cash right away. Prices were per cl, and 1000 yen is about 6.4 euros. I contemplated a while whether to get a whole bottle of the 21yo Secret Highland (most likely Clynelish) which they had in stock. Quite rubbery and sulphury, but I was actually enjoying it as a strange and savoury dram. In the end the price was too much, and I skipped.
Life Vacation
This weird store I discovered online. It buys and sells pre-owned (but, of course, unopened) whisky bottles. The right place to score a bargain. Funnily enough, I found the Secret Highland I tried at M’s and I bought it for €50 less! (What’s a Life Vacation? Does this make sense in Japanese?)
Whisky pub: BARLIVET
This was in the end the only proper bar experience I had in Japan due to the illness, but what an experience it was! Enter an elevator, step of at the right floor straight into this small bar. It was a quiet evening, and after about an hour I was the only customer left. I ended up chatting a lot with the two barmen (with some linguistic barriers), and they dug out interesting bottles from the back of the shelves. It was great that one could buy as little as 1cl pours, to try a diversity of drams.
Mission summary
Needless to say, there’s more to the Tokyo whisky scene than can be discovered in a few days. The glaring omission here was to actually try a variety of Japanese whisky, and perhaps even venturing out of the city for a distillery visit. Not to mention sake, into which I barely dipped my toes.
Having my otorhinolaryngial systems out of commission lead to me focus on whisky stores, and I think I managed to pick out the geekiest places. In the end I came home with two Japanese market exclusive bottles of Scotch, add to that various trinkets and gifts, and a Hakushu village pineapple! 🍍💖
DuckDrams 
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