Whisky 'machinery' - the Washback

Continuing the series looking at some of the 'machinery' used in a distillery to create whisky - this time the Washback or fermenting vessel.

I've covered the basic process of creating whisky here, but I'm going to explore the machinery a little more in this series.

Whisky from...? Japan

Next in my little series on Whisky from...? is Japan. I've tried a few Japanese whiskies in my time, more recently a great set from Yoichi. But this one is a little special - it's the 800th different whisky I've tried!

Japanese whisky has had a bit of a bust and boom in the last thirty years. In the 90s, the distilleries were not prepared for the economic crash in Japan, whisky fell out of favour in Japan, some distilleries closed and production was scaled back in the rest. In the subsequent recovery they didn't have enough stock laid down to cope with the an ever increasing demand, so now, stock is low and prices are high.