July has the Japanese feeling the heat so they cool down – with a Yamazaki Shousho or a Hakushu Taisho cocktail

London April 2012: What better than an ice cool cocktail to defeat the heat of summer. It’s a solution the Japanese come up with in July and it works. In fact they have an appropriate cocktail to mark each of their 24 seasons, created by Zoran Peric, Brand Ambassador, using the remarkable whiskies of Suntory. In July the seasons are named Shousho and Taisho and here’s how to cool down in the heat.

Yamazaki Shousho – Little heat (July 5)

Recipe:

50ml Yamazaki 12 year old single malt

75ml infused water: orange blossom, lemon zest, lemon grass

Pour over large chunks of ice, stir 24 times, add lemon zest

Serve in a chilled Highball glass, garnish with lemon grass and lemon twist

Hakushu Taisho – Big heat (July 21)

Recipe:

50ml Hakushu 12 year old single malt whisky

12.5ml Elderflower cordial

100ml soda water

Coat large chunks of ice with elderflower cordial

Pour in Hakushu and stir 5 times

Add soda water and stir 5 times

Finish with lemon zest, serve in chilled Highball glass

Garnish with elderflowers and berries and lemon

Yamazaki Shousho and Hakushu Taisho are just two of the delightful 24 seasonal cocktails created by Zoran Peric for Suntory and Japan’s 24 seasons.

With more than 60 international awards gained since 2003 the Yamazaki 25 Year Old single malt has just been voted the Best Malt Whisky in the World at Whisky Magazine’s 6th world whisky awards. Last year it was the Yamazaki 1984 that took this honour and for Suntory to win for two successive years against some formidable whiskies shows just how far the Japanese have come in mastering the art of producing great whisky.

Notes

Pronouncing Suntory names

Yamazaki – (Ya-ma-zarkee)

Hakushu – (Ha-koo-shoe)

Hibiki – (Hi-bi-kee)

Yamazaki single malt whisky and Hibiki blended whisky are available from: Selfridges, Harvey Nichols, The Whisky Exchange, independent specialist retailers and drinkon.com priced from:
Yamazaki 12 year old £40

Hakushu 12 year old £49

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