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Borrowed Name

We were visiting with some friends we haven't seen in a long time and S insisted we try some of his Japanese whisky gifted to them by their grand-kids who wanted to introduce them to something cool and trendy. Being completely ignorant about whiskies good or bad, I was not the right person to opine but sampled anyway. They all seemed pleasant enough but connoisseurs would know better no doubt. Reading this article reminded me of my own experience and failing to understand much:

“To consider only Japanese malt whisky as Japanese whisky is disingenuous and rooted more in politics than in the reality of how all other world whiskies are created,” he said. “Rice whiskies have an equal if not more authentic history of being categorized as Japanese whisky, as they are based on the grain of Asia and exclusively distilled, matured, and bottled in Asia. The goal should be for Japan to expand the category and offerings of whisky styles from its beautiful country, its multiple distilleries, and the many talented Japanese master blenders.”

When you call something a name that has historic and cultural connotations to a place that you don't belong to, chances are the right to call it that name will not be given naturally. To uninformed folks such as myself, the drink we tasted could as well have been introduced as a novel drink made in Japan - no name necessary. If we liked it, we could as well refer to it by its brand name and it would not be in conflict with anything else. 

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