Suntory - Toki Whisky (750ml)

Toki is a blend of selected malt and grain whiskies from the Hakushu, Yamazaki, and Chita distilleries. The Hakushu malt is aged in American white oak that provide freshness, mellowness and the green apple notes. This is balanced with heavy-type grain whiskies from Chita distillery that add a clean taste with notes of sweetness and some vanilla.. The blend is completed by adding older single malts from Yamazaki, that have aged in American and Spanish oak. This addition harmonizes with the Hakushu and Chita components, while adding roundness as well as reinforcing the sweetness of Chita heavy-type grain whisky with notes of peach and custard aromas. The Yamazaki Spanish oak cask malt whisky adds the woody and bittersweet notes.

History of Suntory, a century of Japanese whisky

The Torii Shoten Store, the predecessor of Suntory, opened in 1899 as a result of the dream of young Shinjiro Torii, who at the age of 20 wanted to “create original Japanese Spirits the whole world can enjoy, uniquely made from Japan’s nature and her people.”

The Yamazaki Distillery, Japan’s first whisky distillery, began construction in Yamazaki on the outskirts of Kyoto and opened in 1923. It’s and Japan’s first whisky, Suntory Shirofuda (white label) was launched in 1930 and failed due to its imitation of smoky Scottish whiskies. This was followed by Suntory Kakubin. This subsequently whisky became the number one selling Japanese whisky in Japan, because it had the elegance and subtlety sought by the whiskey drinkers in Japan and that has become a hallmark of all Japanese whiskies.

A vivid blend of whiskies from Suntory's Hakushu, Yamazaki, and Chita distilleries, Suntory Whisky Toki™ features the quintessential characteristics of a Suntory Whisky blend: exquisite balance, harmony, and oneness.
At the same time, its unique pairing of Hakushu American white oak cask malt whisky with Chita heavy-type grain whisky overturns the traditional hierarchy between malt and grain. 

These seemingly dissimilar but deeply accordant whiskies, 
together with select Yamazaki malts for additional depth and complexity, gives Suntory Whisky Toki™ its silky taste,
vivid character, and bold inventiveness.

This is a handy core ingredient for many cocktails, combining single malts from Yamazaki and Hakushu with grain from Chita. Dying embers of burnt heather and aromas of sliced apples browning through careless neglect. A complex interplay between the smoky embers, roasted spices, tiger fruit, coriander, and whole peppercorn precedes a sweet taste of buttered popcorn, orchard fruit, and burnished orange, supported by increasingly provocative pepperiness. Quaffable and versatile. Jonny McCormick, Fall 2017.