It is often difficult to anticipate when inspiration will strike and how far that influence will go when it comes to Scotch whisky.
A drink inextricably linked to the traditional casks owned and distilled in Scotland has spread so far and wide that there are dozens of whisky traditions around the world, with distillers as far away as India and Japan.
The history of Japanese single malt is fascinating, starting as early as 1919 with an apprentice at Longmorn returning to his native Japan, establishing a Kyoto distillery whilst working for what would become Suntory and later founding the company that became Nikka, influencing the two biggest distillers in the region.
However, influence can work in reverse, and in one of the most unusual examples of this, one of Japan’s most influential cultural exports has inspired a whisky collection all of its own.
The Spirits Of Tokeizaka
What is particularly interesting about the collaboration, instigated by whisky expert and former magazine editor Hideo Yamaoka is perhaps the choice of subject matter, the use of two very different single malts from different distilleries and eras, as well as the fact that it is Scotch specifically and not a Japanese single malt chosen.
By themselves, each of these elements needs to be explored both individually and in tandem to understand the collection.
The two bottles chosen are a 1998 Glen Grant and a 2009 Kildalton, the former a fruity, well-balanced flavour with a complex pine and milk nose, whilst the latter is peaty, spicy, smokey and even a little leathery in its taste and smell.
The connecting tissue of these two bottles is in the subject matter of the collection, which is the 1980s anime and manga series Maison Ikkoku, a romantic sitcom series written and drawn by the popular and successful artist Rumiko Takahashi.
Whilst Ms Takahashi regularly writes romances such as Ranma ½, Urusei Yatsura (Those Obnoxious Aliens) and Inuyasha, Maison Ikkoku is unusually grounded and realistic for a genre typically focused around outlandish settings and outright fantastical elements.
At its core is the slowly budding romance over six years between the college applicant and student teacher Yusaku Godai and the manager of the boarding house he lives in and young widow Kyoko Otonashi.
The two bottles represent two aspects of their early relationship and the opposites between the two leads, chosen by a connoisseur both of whisky and of manga.
The Glen Grant, with its mellow, pine-enriched aroma, presents the pastoral idyll of Clock Hill and the House of A Single Moment, as well as the complexities of Kyoko’s character.
The Kildalton, by contrast, represents both the grounded nature of Godai but also the deep, unadulterated passion bubbling under the surface.
The label of the Kildalton, somewhat fittingly, is from an early moment in the series where Godai drunkenly confesses his love to Kyoko, which does not exactly go well.
In terms of unique collections and collaborations between art and whisky, this is amongst the most unusual and yet the most fitting, and highlights just how huge the influence of whisky is around the world.