Whatever Suntory paid for that, they got their money’s worth. The product placement in Bartender has been pretty hot and heavy from the beginning – every bottle (and there are a lot of them) bears the genuine label. But this was something else entirely – an episode that played like it was written by Suntory’s marketing department. I found it a little off-putting to be honest, although this was certainly playing on my home turf.
As noted earlier I prefer whisk(e)y to mixed drinks, so the theme here was very familiar to me. I also have a lengthy history with the Yamazaki Distillery. I live about 15 minutes away by train (I see it on the way to work every morning) but I’ve been visiting for years. Since I was coming to Japan on vacation, in fact. It is indeed in a lovely spot, you could do a self-guided tour for free, and the tasting library offered the chance to sample stuff like Yamazaki 25 and Hibiki 30 at a fraction of what a bar would charge. The gift shop never had any good bottles but it was still a great day.
That’s all over now, Baby Blue. Yamazaki is so popular with tourists that it’s basically impossible to get in without insider connections (as the episode alluded to). And J-whisky has skyrocketed so much in demand over the past decade that the library is now as overpriced as any whisky bar in Ginza anyway. One used to be able to buy bottles of Yamazaki 12-year for a few thousand Yen, but after discontinuing it altogether for a while to allow aged stocks to replenish Suntory raised the price on it six or sevenfold. As with the distillery itself, my days with the whisky are basically over.
As for the commercial episode itself, all the stuff Sasakura was saying about the process is basically true, but it was so wrapped up in lyrical puffery and sappy music that it was hard not to laugh. One should try new make spirit if they get the chance, though – if you’re a whisky drinker it’s quite an educational experience. The storyline with the bartender field trip and the romance angle for a character we’d never met did little for me. I’m also a little confused about why a guy with a Chinese name (possibly Singaporean) and a Japanese mother looks like a blond football player from Kansas.
Bartender is another series that I’m on the fence about that’s on the Patron Pick ballot, so I’m honestly not sure where I go from here. I may keep up with it by my own choice, it may win the poll, or I may decide there’s just not enough here to justify writing about weekly. It’s kind of ironic that the episode that finally focused on my chosen corner of the spirits world was the one I’ve found least interesting, though.
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