Japan: Japan Spirits & Liqueurs Makers Association announces sweeping new regulations for Japanese whisky

The Japan Spirits & Liqueurs Makers Association has announced a sweeping new set of industry-wide regulations aimed at curbing the spread of products labelled as ‘Japanese whisky’ that are sometimes nothing of the sort, Forbes reported on February 16.

For most of its modern history, Japanese whisky has adopted the opposite approach to the Scots. Where the latter has some of the strictest laws in the world about what is allowed to be called ‘Scotch whisky’, Japanese whiskymakers haven’t had significant regulations on the matter in place until now.

The ongoing supply crisis that has roiled the Japanese whisky industry for years meant that the lack of regulation has led to many companies cutting corners, and pushing the boundaries on what actually constitutes as ‘whisky’ produced in the country. Some tricks include importing Scotch whisky and bottling that as ‘Japanese’, or even mixing imported Scotch with Shochu (a popular spirit drink) and calling that ‘Japanese whisky’. Major Japanese whisky industry figures have previously expressed significant concern about what this means for the future of the industry, and that it might dent the confidence of consumers.

Unlike in Scotland, these new regulations aren’t legally binding but they are a strong show of force from the industry, and will likely lead to significant change. Starting April 1st of this year, here’s the criteria that any brand wanting to release a product featuring the label ‘Japanese whisky/whiskey’ will need to meet:

- The only raw ingredients allowed for use in production are malted grains, other cereal grains, and water extracted in Japan. Malted grains must always be used.

- Fermentation, distillation, and saccharification must take place in a distillery located in Japan, with the alcohol volume of the distillate not allowed to go above 95% in strength.

- Wood casks with a maximum capacity of 700 litres must be used for the maturation of the distilled product, and have to be matured in Japan for a minimum of 3 years.

- Bottling has to take place in Japan, and the whisky has to have a minimum ABV of 40%

- Plain caramel colouring (also known as E150a) is allowed to be added (this is a common practice in whisky around the world).

The regulations also come down hard on any brands that would like to evoke Japanese imagery and names on their labels for a whisky product that doesn’t meet the above requirements.

This may not seem like much, but these standards align Japanese whisky with what is happening in other parts of the world that are also producing whisky, such as the European Union. It will also cause a headache for the people behind the many ‘Japanese’ whisky products sold around the world that certainly fail to meet these seemingly simple criteria.

The Whisky Exchange is the world’s largest online retailer of whisky, and it has announced that it will soon recategorize the products it sells as ‘Japanese whisky’. Whisky Exchange head buyer Dawn Davies is pleased about the new regulations:

“We welcome this move to provide the consumer with greater transparency about whiskies from Japan. We believe these measures will help Japanese whisky become even more popular, and will perhaps also encourage other countries and spirits categories to follow suit.

“We will always offer our customers full transparency and as such we have already renamed the categories found on our website. The new ‘Whisky from Japan’ category will feature sub-categories of ‘Whisky’ and ‘Japanese whisky’.”

However while it is important to note that while many companies behind Japanese whisky brands have agreed to abide by the regulations voluntarily, whisky writer and author Dave Broom (who’s written an excellent book about Japanese whisky) warns that this may not be the end of ‘fake’ Japanese whisky:

“As it stands there is nothing to stop a bottler/shochu producer who isn't a member of the Association to continue to release dubiously labelled liquid.

“I hope that we see some form of producers’ label/sticker appearing which will help the consumer be able to see what is genuine Japanese whisky and what isn’t.”

For Japanese whisky fans and for many in the industry, the announcement is a welcome step to providing more transparency about what’s in the bottle. The next few weeks are going to be fascinating for anyone keeping tabs about what’s happening in Japanese whisky.

14 February, 2021