Why It Was Almost Impossible to Make Yamazaki 12

In 1918 a young chemistry student left Japan and sailed halfway around the world to learn a craft his country had never made for itself. What he carried home became the Yamazaki. The 12 year old is now one of the most hunted Japanese whiskies on the planet, with people paying triple what it cost a decade ago. But it almost never left the warehouse, and the reason comes down to a single stubborn type of wood that nearly broke the whole thing. Here is how Japan taught itself to make whisky, and how this bottle sold out across the world in roughly a day. New bottle, new story every week. Drink it neat. #Yamazaki #JapaneseWhisky #WhiskyHistory