In case you haven’t been able to get your hands on a bottle of their single malt whisky just yet, Okayama Distillery is slated to release a highball ready-to-drink (RTD) using it.
It’s named the “Whisky Okayama High Ball,” and it will be released in 250ml glass bottles at 7% abv. The price on the Miyashita Shuzo online store is a staggering 1,100 yen with tax, so this better be a damn good highball.How good? Miyashita says we can expect sweet aromas from the sherry cask influence, accented with peat, and the depth of a malt whisky. No, that didn’t convince me either.
That said, this is actually Japan’s first ever RTD single malt highball. The ones from Saburomaru and Kiuchi use grain whisky, and that Yamazaki one we reviewed earlier this year used flat water instead of soda.
While I am a fan of Japanese craft whisky makers experimenting with different formats and serving styles to get their whisky into more mouths, 1100 yen is way beyond what anyone should pay for a RTD. Especially given the abundance of cheap highballs found all throughout in Japan.
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Love the site and the articles. Small bit of feedback on this article, it would help many readers to explain that the acronym RTD means Ready To Drink.
@SpiritAndWood
Thanks for the feedback! You are absolutely right — I have added it in the first paragraph.