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TEXT BY SILVIA VECCHINI

THE

LIQUID GOLD

In the exclusive land where the Uji and Kizu Rivers meet

we find a damp environment, ideal for aging whisky

at Yamazaki: a whisky-making utopia

They call it “Liquid Gold,” but its true name is Yamazaki: the Akadama Port Wine on the market, achieving exceptional suc-
world’s most costly and collectible single malt whisky, produced in cess. The firm offered a wide range of products, including tooth-
the first and oldest Japanese commercial distillery of this renowned paste, but for the most part it was simply a way to obtain the capital
beverage. In January 2018 a bottle of fifty-year-old Yamazaki was required to finance Torii’s real dream: to create a whisky capable
sold for 2.3 million HK$ (299,000 dollars) in an auction at Sothe- of improving on the imported Scotch that was extremely popular
by’s in Hong Kong, setting a new record for the highest amount in Japan in those days.
ever paid in the history of whisky, topping the double-digit start- The Yamazaki distillery was built in 1924, as interest in local
ing price (Sotheby’s was already forecasting sale of the lot at a sum production of whisky grew. Torii imagined a Japanese approach,
between 700,000 and 1.1 million HK$). choosing terrain and climate completely different from those of
Paul Wong, a specialist at Sotheby’s Wine Asia, remarked: Scotland, in order to create a unique type of whisky. He didn’t
“Whisky prices continue to rise today and the market for Japa- want an intense, powerful beverage, but a smoother, more elegant
nese luxury distilled beverages is in full swing: we are absolute- product to meet Japanese tastes, in a country unaccustomed to
ly thrilled with the new world auction record set by the Yamazaki such strong flavors. The result was Yamazaki, a delicate, layered
Aged 50 Years NV, the highest price achieved for any single bottle mixture of fruit tones and Mizunara aromas. The Yamazaki dis-
of Japanese whisky.”The bottle is from a very limited edition of just tillery stands proudly on the outskirts of Kyoto, in Osaka Prefec-
fifty pieces produced in 2011, accompanied by a wooden package ture. The region was known as “Minaseno,” the place of origin
signed by Shinji Fukuyo, chief blender of the Yamazaki distillery. of the purest waters in Japan, and in fact the great care that went
This is a fine whisky with a very long aging period, which is one into selection of the springs was one of the main factors behind
of the reasons behind its value. The amazing price was the result Yamazaki’s excellence. Yamazaki was also the home of Sen no
of fierce competition among buyers. The last record dated back to Rikyū, the great master and reformer of the tea ceremony. The
2016, when a Yamazaki 50 bottled in 2015 reached a price of over crux of his thought is the concept of wabi-cha, combining the idea
1 million HK$ (129,000 dollars). The roots of the distillery reach of sabi or the patina of time that marks the appearance of things,
back to 1899, when Shinjiro Torii, a single malt whisky pioneer, the yūgen, the subtle spell that cannot be described in words,
began to produce and sell wine. In 1907 the company launched cherished by the authors of Noh plays, and wabi, simplicity

60 Lifestyle Protagonist Protagonist Lifestyle 61