Celebrate the coming of Spring like the Japanese with Hakushu Semei or Hibiki Kokuu cocktails

London March 2012: The Japanese are very close to nature and mark the passage of each of their traditional 24 seasons in different ways. In April the two seasons are Semei and Kokuu.

* Semei is the period of clear and bright weather leading up to the warmer weather.

* Kokuu is the time for some rain to help develop the crops for the harvest.

Suntory celebrates each season with the 24 Seasons Cocktail menu, an appropriate cocktail created by Brand Ambassador Zoran Peric.

Hakushu Semei – clear and bright weather (4 April)

Enough to raise the spirits for a good summer!

Recipe:

50ml Hakushu 12 Year Old single malt whisky

12.5ml Luxardo Maraschino liqueur

1ml Absinthe

Lemon zest

Coat an ice cube with absinthe and stir 10 times in a mixing glass. Add rest of ingredients then stir 30 times. Strain into a chilled martini glass and garnish with grapefruit zest

Hibiki Kokuu – rain for a good harvest (20 April)

A bright interlude among the showers

Recipe:

40ml Hibiki 17 Year Old blended whisky

25ml Prucia golden plum liqueur

Stir ingredients with ice for about 2 minutes and serve over an ice ball in an Old Fashioned glass. Garnish with Orange zest

Suntory seasons/2

Suntory Japanese whiskies are world beaters having won more than 60 international awards since 2003 including Best Blended Whisky in the World for the Hibiki 21 and 30 year old and Best Single Malt in the World for the Yamazaki 18 year old. In 2010 Suntory was named Best Distiller in the World.

Whisky connoisseurs the world over applaud the subtle aromas and delicate flavours. In Japan whisky is often drunk with food such as sushi in a combination of two to three times water with whisky.

Hakushu 12 Year Old Single Malt and Hibiki 17 year old Blended whiskies are firm favourites in Japan and here in Europe. Celebrate these 2 Japanese seasons of Semei and Kokuu with a welcoming cocktail.

Notes: Pronouncing Suntory names

Yamazaki – (Ya-ma-zarkee)

Hakushu – (Ha-koo-shoe)

Hibiki – (Hi-bi-kee)

Hakushu single malt whisky and Hibiki blended whisky are available from: Selfridges, Harvey Nichols, The Whisky Exchange, independent specialist retailers and drinkon.com priced from:

Hakushu 12 year old £49

Hibiki 17 year old £70

The Suntory range of Japanese whiskies is distributed in the UK by Cellar Trends. For all sales enquiries contact: sales@cellartrends.co.uk