Japan: Japanese whisky

Suntory Hibiki Japanese Harmony

Blended and silky: honey, orange peel, rose and sandalwood.

Serve: Neat or as a highball

Nikka From the Barrel

Rich and spicy: toffee, dark fruit, vanilla and pepper.

Strength: 51.4% · Age and cask: No age statement, blend married again in casks

A blend of malt and grain whiskies, launched in 1985 in a small square bottle. After blending, the whisky goes back into casks for a few months so the parts settle together, and it is bottled at a high strength.

Serve: Neat or with a large ice cube

Suntory Yamazaki 12 Year Old

Peach, pineapple, honey, coconut and incense-like oak.

Strength: 43% · Age and cask: 12 years, including Mizunara (Japanese oak) casks

From Japan's first malt whisky distillery, built near Kyoto in 1923. Part of the whisky ages in Japanese Mizunara oak, which gives sandalwood and incense notes.

Serve: Neat or with a little water

Nikka Coffey Grain

Soft and sweet: vanilla, coconut, tropical fruit and caramel.

Strength: 45% · Age and cask: No age statement, oak casks

Distilled mainly from corn in traditional Coffey (column) stills that Nikka brought from Scotland in the 1960s, now housed at its Miyagikyo distillery. It shows how rich and flavourful grain whisky can be.

Serve: Neat, on ice or in a highball

Suntory Toki

Light and crisp: green apple, basil, honey and a soft white pepper finish.

Strength: 43% · Age and cask: No age statement

A blended whisky made for highballs, using malt from Hakushu and Yamazaki and grain whisky from Suntory's Chita distillery. The Hakushu malt gives its fresh, green character.

Serve: In a Japanese-style highball with lots of ice and soda

Suntory Hakushu Distiller's Reserve

Fresh and green: cut herbs, green apple, mint and a light wisp of smoke.

Strength: 43% · Age and cask: No age statement, a mix of cask types

Hakushu sits deep in the forests of the Southern Japanese Alps in Yamanashi and opened in 1973. Its malts are known for a fresh, herbal character, some of them lightly peated.

Serve: In a highball with chilled soda and a twist of mint, or neat

Suntory The Chita

Light and silky: honey, vanilla, mint, a little citrus and soft oak.

Strength: 43% · Age and cask: No age statement, a mix of cask types

A single grain whisky from Suntory's Chita distillery on the coast near Nagoya, opened in 1972. Grain whisky made in column stills is lighter than malt and forms the backbone of Suntory blends such as Hibiki.

Serve: In a highball with chilled soda and a twist of lemon, or on ice

Nikka Yoichi Single Malt

Gently smoky and briny, with baked apple, toffee, vanilla and a little liquorice.

Strength: 45% · Age and cask: No age statement, a mix of cask types

Yoichi, on the coast of Hokkaido, was founded in 1934 by Masataka Taketsuru, who learned to make whisky in Scotland. Its pot stills are still heated directly with coal, which helps give a heavier, oily spirit.

Serve: Neat, with a splash of water, or in a highball

Nikka Taketsuru Pure Malt

Soft and rounded: honey, dried fruit, malt, light spice and a whisper of smoke.

Strength: 43% · Age and cask: No age statement, a blend of malts from various casks

A blended malt of whiskies from Nikka's two distilleries, Yoichi in Hokkaido and Miyagikyo near Sendai. It is named after Masataka Taketsuru, who studied distilling in Scotland and founded Nikka in 1934.

Serve: Neat or in a highball

Nikka Miyagikyo Single Malt

Soft and fruity: pear, apple, vanilla, toffee and a light floral note.

Strength: 45% · Age and cask: No age statement, various oak casks

Nikka's second distillery, opened in 1969 near Sendai, uses large steam-heated pot stills with a bulge in the neck. These give a lighter, rounder spirit than the coal-fired stills of its sister distillery Yoichi.

Serve: Neat, or as a mizuwari with water and ice

Suntory Yamazaki Distiller's Reserve

Fruity and fragrant: strawberry, cherry, sandalwood and a light, sweet finish.

Strength: 43% · Age and cask: No age statement; Mizunara, Spanish oak sherry and wine casks among others

A single malt from Yamazaki near Kyoto, which opened in 1923 as Japan's first malt whisky distillery. Japanese Mizunara oak adds an incense-like note.

Serve: Neat or in a highball

Suntory Hakushu 12 Year Old

Fresh and green: cut grass, green apple, mint, pear and a wisp of light smoke.

Strength: 43% · Age and cask: 12 years, mainly American oak

Made at Suntory's forest distillery high in the Southern Japanese Alps, with soft water from Mount Kaikomagatake. A little lightly peated malt gives its gentle smoky note.

Serve: In a highball with soda and mint, or neat