The Yamazaki, Single Malt Japanese Whisky Distiller's Reserve',

Yamazaki was Japan's first malt whisky distillery, opened in 1923, and it is still the country's reference point. Distiller's Reserve is the house calling card - a no-age-statement vatting that draws on malts matured in American oak, Spanish sherry oak, and Japanese Mizunara, plus a component aged in Bordeaux wine casks that pushes the whole thing toward red fruit. That combination is what makes it read as unmistakably Japanese: soft and fruity up front, then a drift of incense and sandalwood from the Mizunara. Drink it neat, add a drop of water, or do what they do at home and build it into a highball. It is a genuinely good place to start with Japanese malt.