Whiskey tasting

I planned much of this trip with ChatGPT, which suggested a visit to Yamazaki. The distillery is about 20 minutes outside Kyoto, a city I had never visited, so I made it an overnight stop.

I liked seeing how Suntory mixed classic whisky techniques with Japanese ingredients and local constraints. The tasting bar had many rare bottles, and I tried three of the oldest offerings: whiskies from before the international hype, when Yamazaki still felt more like a local experiment.