International Hunting

[Jkersh]

All,

 

I'm headed out of the country (Hong Kong, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Japan) and was wondering if anyone had any tips on bottles to look out for?  I would imagine Blantons Gold/SFTB but thats all I know of..  Wont have a ton of free time outside airports/duty free but will have a day in Taiwan and a day  half day in Osaka where I hope to visit Suntory.

 

Cheers

[DeepCover]

Kavalan Vinho Barrique 

[HoustonNit]

I've been looking into international offerings myself as my wife is French and we go at least once a year.

You stated the obvious ones Blanton's Gold and SFTB, I've already had my in laws order a bottle of each.

Wild Turkey has some international only offerings such as a 12 year old and some other offerings. For Japan they should have some 4 Ross offerings that should be unique to Japanese market and very good.

One thing that kind of annoys me about international bottles is that a fifth in the US is roughly a fifth of a gallon at 750ML, while international it's only 700ML.

[jsrudd]

Of those countries, your best bet will be Japan. The are a lot of bourbons available in Japan that are not widely available in the U.S.:

• Evan Williams 12 Year
• Evan Williams 23 Year
• Four Roses Black
• Four Roses Platinum
• Blanton's Green
• Blanton's Black
• Blanton's Gold
• Blanton's SFTB
• Wild Turkey 8 Year
• Wild Turkey 13 Year
• Old Ezra 12 Year
• Old Ezra 15 Year
• I.W. Harper 12 Year

Of these, I would recommend Wild Turkey 8 Year, Evan Williams 12, Blanton's Gold and Blanton's SFTB. 

 

I don't know Osaka and so I can't recommend stores to visit. You will likely find very little outside of Wild Turkey 8 Year at duty free. 

 

 

[Jkersh]

7 hours ago, jsrudd said:

Of those countries, your best bet will be Japan. The are a lot of bourbons available in Japan that are not widely available in the U.S.:

• Evan Williams 12 Year
• Evan Williams 23 Year
• Four Roses Black
• Four Roses Platinum
• Blanton's Green
• Blanton's Black
• Blanton's Gold
• Blanton's SFTB
• Wild Turkey 8 Year
• Wild Turkey 13 Year
• Old Ezra 12 Year
• Old Ezra 15 Year
• I.W. Harper 12 Year

Of these, I would recommend Wild Turkey 8 Year, Evan Williams 12, Blanton's Gold and Blanton's SFTB. 

 

I don't know Osaka and so I can't recommend stores to visit. You will likely find very little outside of Wild Turkey 8 Year at duty free. 

 

 

This is great. Thank you. 

 

Ive had success in Taiwan in the past. Roughly half the US price of Japanese and Taiwanese whiskys. I'll be sure to keep my eyes peel for all the above and of course any special Kavalan,Nikka, Hibiki, or Yamazaki varieties. 

[jvd99]

13 hours ago, jsrudd said:

Of those countries, your best bet will be Japan. The are a lot of bourbons available in Japan that are not widely available in the U.S.:

• Evan Williams 12 Year
• Evan Williams 23 Year
• Four Roses Black
• Four Roses Platinum
• Blanton's Green
• Blanton's Black
• Blanton's Gold
• Blanton's SFTB
• Wild Turkey 8 Year
• Wild Turkey 13 Year
• Old Ezra 12 Year
• Old Ezra 15 Year
• I.W. Harper 12 Year

Of these, I would recommend Wild Turkey 8 Year, Evan Williams 12, Blanton's Gold and Blanton's SFTB.

 

What is Blanton's Black and Four Roses Black? Never heard of those

[A-Bar]

 
What is Blanton's Black and Four Roses Black? Never heard of those

FR Black is a Product only sold in Japan. It is a equal split on the Mash Bills but only K yeast. Very nice and smooth , I recommend it if you ever come across one.


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[DROB]

I'm going to Mexico, Honduras, Belize and Grand Cayman on a cruise later this year. Any hope of finding export only bourbons there?

[DeepCover]

8 minutes ago, DROB said:

I'm going to Mexico, Honduras, Belize and Grand Cayman on a cruise later this year. Any hope of finding export only bourbons there?

From my experience, no. If you like Macallan, they have Macallan Ruby, which I enjoy, but in terms of bourbon, I've found the selection to be pretty pedestrian.

[OldFitzWithTheGoldLabel]

All,
 
I'm headed out of the country (Hong Kong, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Japan) and was wondering if anyone had any tips on bottles to look out for?  I would imagine Blantons Gold/SFTB but thats all I know of..  Wont have a ton of free time outside airports/duty free but will have a day in Taiwan and a day  half day in Osaka where I hope to visit Suntory.
 
Cheers

This guy might have some helpful advice for you.

https://medium.com/@slynch/buying-whisky-in-japan-60a38f12756#.xtpb0jf43

It seems as if Johnny Drum might be popular in Japan. It is #6 (and the only bourbon I recognized).



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[jsrudd]

9 hours ago, jvd99 said:

 

What is Blanton's Black and Four Roses Black? Never heard of those

Blanton's Black is the same as Blanton's Green (80 proof), but is only sold in Japan. 

[DROB]

From my experience, no. If you like Macallan, they have Macallan Ruby, which I enjoy, but in terms of bourbon, I've found the selection to be pretty pedestrian.

Thank you, guess I'll be looking for Rum instead.

[Limegoldconvertible68]

21 hours ago, DROB said:

I'm going to Mexico, Honduras, Belize and Grand Cayman on a cruise later this year. Any hope of finding export only bourbons there?

Pretty sure you will find Jim Beam White and not much else

[tanstaafl2]

I seem to recall there has been sporadic reports of Blanton's SFTB from the Caribbean but probably mostly bigger international airports like St. Martin and maybe Jamaica? Buying non-local liquor outside of duty free may be tougher and more expensive, presuming you can find anything of interest.

 

Even rum is likely to be either local stuff or the usual brands like Bacardi in the tourist areas.

[fishnbowljoe]

WT 8 101 used to be available in some duty free stores. Canada for sure. FWIW, I actually liked the export 8 101 better than the 12 year old. I don't care too much for a lot of oak/smoke in my bourbons. To me, the WT 8 101 had just the right amount of each.

 

Cheers! Joe

[DROB]

How about the duty free in London? One of my coworkers said he would pick up something for me when he goes at the end of the month. Would they have blantons gold or sftb? Wild Turkey 12?

[jackthedog]

I was recently in Japan and got to try both the FR Platinum and WT8. I'd definitely recommend the WT of the two. 

 

I enjoy the "regular" WT101 but the 8 year seemed to have a bit more flavor to it and was a little smoother to me. 

[Jkersh]

Just a few high price items so far. Not much on the American side of things. Only woodford. Bulleit and Jackie Daniel 

[OldFitzWithTheGoldLabel]

Just a few high price items so far. Not much on the American side of things. Only woodford. Bulleit and Jackie Daniel 

Any special releases by Woodford Reserve, Jackie D, and Bulleit? How are the prices?

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[beasled]

On 3/11/2017 at 1:14 AM, fishnbowljoe said:

WT 8 101 used to be available in some duty free stores. Canada for sure. FWIW, I actually liked the export 8 101 better than the 12 year old. I don't care too much for a lot of oak/smoke in my bourbons. To me, the WT 8 101 had just the right amount of each.

 

Cheers! Joe

 

Random browsing the other day led me to find an 8 year old in the latest branding... good news if they're still making it. 

 

 

[Jkersh]

21 minutes ago, OldFitzWithTheGoldLabel said:

 

Any special releases by Woodford Reserve, Jackie D, and Bulleit? How are the prices?

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So far nothing I haven't seen in the states. Will keep my eyes peeled. I would imagine Taiwan and Japan will be the best of the bunch. I've always had good success for pricing and variety in Taiwan, especially at the markets

[kevinbrink]

Anybody know anything about New Zealand, have a friend living in Wellington who is coming back to visit in May.

[tanstaafl2]

4 hours ago, kevinbrink said:

Anybody know anything about New Zealand, have a friend living in Wellington who is coming back to visit in May.

 

If you are looking for bourbon it is probably not going to have much beyond the usual choices at duty free like JD and umm, JD. No idea if they might have Blanton's SFTB. Duty free is often a bit hit or miss at the best of times.

 

I do know they are allowed to do their own distilling! I have an internet acquaintance who is always making his own rum, gin and amaro.

 

There is also a single malt from a now closed distillery that comes up now and again. The distillery was called Willowbank. I have no idea if it is any good as I so far have not been able to try it.

[kevinbrink]

1 minute ago, tanstaafl2 said:

 

If you are looking for bourbon it is probably not going to have much beyond the usual choices at duty free like JD and umm, JD. No idea if they might have Blanton's SFTB. Duty free is often a bit hit or miss at the best of times.

 

I do know they are allowed to do their own distilling! I have an internet acquaintance who is always making his own rum, gin and amaro.

 

There is also a single malt from a now closed distillery that comes up now and again. The distillery was called Willowbank. I have no idea if it is any good as I so far have not been able to try it.

Yeah it's funny we took a road trip before he moved and ended up in Kentucky, I think when he moved he was pretty interested in trying any local spirits there but came to find their was nothing commercial going on. Plenty of beer though.  I found that same distillery but he found the prices to be over the top locally. Did a little "web-research" and found a few websites for their duty frees and nothing terribly interesting is there except maybe Beam Kentucky Dram or Small Batch.

[Knocksville10]

On 3/7/2017 at 0:51 AM, jsrudd said:

Of those countries, your best bet will be Japan. The are a lot of bourbons available in Japan that are not widely available in the U.S.:

• Evan Williams 12 Year
• Evan Williams 23 Year
• Four Roses Black
• Four Roses Platinum
• Blanton's Green
• Blanton's Black
• Blanton's Gold
• Blanton's SFTB
• Wild Turkey 8 Year
• Wild Turkey 13 Year
• Old Ezra 12 Year
• Old Ezra 15 Year
• I.W. Harper 12 Year

Of these, I would recommend Wild Turkey 8 Year, Evan Williams 12, Blanton's Gold and Blanton's SFTB. 

 

I don't know Osaka and so I can't recommend stores to visit. You will likely find very little outside of Wild Turkey 8 Year at duty free. 

 

 

Any idea which of these are available in England? I have a couple of friends over that way that I'll be sending my list to. Thanks!