Fukuoka Whisky Talk and Tokyo Bar Show 2019

*Some of this year’s Fukuoka WhiskyTalk bottles; available by lottery only*

For whisky fans, Fukuoka Whisky Talk is undoubtedly a more enjoyable event than the Tokyo International Bar Show. The latter has morphed into a cocktail specialist event; buying single cask Hanyu and Yamazaki mizunara are faint memories of a happier time before bottle flippers elbowed their way in.

WhiskyTalk is a firm favorite of fans, who lap up the old bottles from Japan’s leading bars (Higuchi, Kitchen, Rogin’s, Ken’s and Milwaukees Club to name just a few), pop-up bars from the likes of Hideo Yamaoka, Stefan Van Eycken and Yu Sumiyoshi, and independent retailers and bottlers like Whisky Hoop, Shinanoya and Whisk-E.

Of course the Ichiro’s Malt booth was the star attraction at both events, with cask samples plus the full range available for tasting. The Mars booth also delivered intriguing cask samples, including a tantalizing mizunara. Kanosuke from Kagoshima was tasting some intriguing cask samples.

With so much amazing whisky available, the best way to share the experience is through these photos.

The next events in the Japan whisky calendar are the Shizuoka (27th-28th July), Kurashiki (1st September) and Sapporo(15th September).