Hil Ying
Founder and owner of Timeless & Tasty and Whiskies & More (Hong Kong)
What’s your favourite bottle at the moment?
Currently, I’m in love with a 21 year old whisky from the now-demolished Imperial Distillery, Speyside. With the weather turning warmer, I enjoy lighter and fruitier whiskies. This Imperial starts off with citrus fruits followed by some floral notes, and as the whisky is quite waxy and full bodied – it feels like you are chewing on fruit candies for adults! Unfortunately, as with all single cask whiskies, it is very limited – there’s only 169 bottles world-wide.
What’s your view on the current state of the whisky world?
In the past decade or so, whisky has become immensely popular. From the number of new whisky bars, whisky collectors to distilleries and independent bottlers, the whisky world has been a fast growing sector. As a result, we are now lucky to be able to taste so many good quality craft whiskies from all over the world. The downside though is that some whiskies – for example Japanese whisky – have been so sought after, that the prices have ballooned to levels where there is no link between its quality and value anymore. Another phenomenon is the increasing commercialisation of whisky as a product. Some packagings are so extravagant that it may cost as much as the whisky. I sincerely hope that most producers are staying with their ethos of making good quality whiskies at affordable prices for us to enjoy!
What are your thoughts on the regulation changes in Japan and New Zealand?
It’s about time! In other words, very welcoming as these regulation changes makes the whisky category more uniform and transparent for the consumers. Japanese whisky and New Zealand whisky will truly be whisky produced i.e. mashed, fermented, distilled, matured, bottled and labelled in country. Other spirited drinks, such as aged shochu or whisky from abroad but bottled in Japan, cannot be passed off as Japanese whisky anymore.
What’s your favourite whisky bar?
This is a tough one as there are so many great bars in their own right! I personally love the whisky bars in Japan a lot. They’re small, cosy and have a huge variety of whiskies to choose from. Closer to home, Tiffany’s New York Bar (Hong Kong) is one of the whisky bars I like, with over 200 different whiskies featuring both distillery bottlings and independent bottlings – plenty of choice. Darkside is another go-to in Hong Kong – sipping on a dram from a great collection while listening to live jazz, and the whisky cocktails are fantastic too.
Are there any distilleries that you’ve got your eye on?
The Shizuoka Distillery in Japan has acquired the old Karuizawa stills and uses one of them in their current production. Additionally, the distillery is using a wood-fired still – using direct fire to heat the still – while most distilleries use steam stills. As you can imagine, cooking with a wok or steam results in a dish with very different flavours! This is also the case in producing the new make spirit. Last year, the first whisky was released in Japan only and we are very excited to taste the first release for international markets later this year.
