I took a sniff at malt in a glass bottle. It smelled smoky. It was a sweet smell. This is what makes whisky. I heard that there is a great variety of malt that creates a distinctive feature for each factory. They make an adjustment to suit the tastes of Japanese people who do not prefer the smell to be too strong. This malt is broken down into small pieces to make sweet wort. Because the water used at this stage makes difference to the quality of sweet wort, they have chosen Yamazaki, a region of excellent water, to build the distillery. It is no doubt that the water in Yamazaki is beautiful. There was a spring gushing out in a bamboo wood behind the distillery, and the light green of the bamboo was being reflected on the surface of the clear water. I took a sip to see the taste, and found it was a bit sweet.

It was unable to see how it was being fermented. Listening to a guide saying "It is fermenting in a tank," I observed the tank on the other side of the glass. I was tempted to say "I will see you in few years when you become whisky." Then the next stage was distillation. They conduct distillation twice by using a copper pot still. The shape of the pot still can change the taste of whisky. A clear liquid with 70 percent alcoholicity manufactured here is put in a barrel, and then in a storehouse. This is a process I always believed to be the key point in making whisky.

Just as I stepped into the storehouse, my nose caught a sweet aroma. It felt as if the air was loaded with whisky, and that was quite nice. By walking between the rows of barrels and bringing my nose close to them, I felt that the smell varied from one barrel to another depending on its position. It might be due to the difference in years, or in contents. I found a barrel born in the year of my birth. While feeling some kind of affection toward it, I wished I would be able to enjoy the taste with all my senses if I have a chance to meet it someday. I somehow felt tender. I knew that some smells such as aroma therapy have a power that greatly influence our minds, but I have never expected the smell of whisky storehouse to be able to calm my fretful emotion down! I wished I could have stayed there forever smelling the whisky. Perhaps, I might get drunk only with the smell.

The taste varies also with the size of barrel and the number of times it has been used. It is such a delicate drink that is easily altered by any change. So, in order to maintain such drink in a fixed quality, people called blenders exist. By tasting and checking every sample in their mouth, they come up with the best combination to make the products to be shipped. Because I already feel like I can get drunk only with the smell, if I have to be tasting whisky all day like they do, I certainly would be completely drunk and unable to walk steadily! Of course, it is not that they are actually drinking whisky; they check the smell and see the taste and flavor carefully in their mouths, and, I suppose, they spit it out of their mouth afterward, but that must be a quite tough work. I believe that this is a kind of job only those with the outstanding senses of smell as well as taste can handle.

Then it was the time to taste the products guaranteed by the blenders. I was instructed to drink it diluted with water first to check the smell and taste. I also learned how to make a delicious whisky-and-water. A-ha. It certainly tasted smart. It smelled much deeper and brilliant than the one I usually make. As I took a careful sniff at it, I noticed vanilla kind of sweet smell welling up. I then asked for straight whisky, and brought it close to my face after rocking the glass gently. It felt more astringent than the one diluted with water. As I took a sip, it evaporated softly in my mouth and fell smoothly into my throat.

Well it was delicious. There was no other word for it. So, I purchased a bottle of unblended whisky as a souvenir. As I removed the cap, the sweet aroma spread out in the same way. As it was a kind of liquor labeled as an unblended whisky, I somehow felt that there was something special about its smell, but I guess that would be due merely to partiality toward a product I bought.

As leaving the distillery, I somehow felt that my sense of smell has become more sensitive. So in order to make good use of such ability also in another occasion, I headed directly for Kitano Tenmangu. The ume blossoms are now at their best. As much as I would be convinced that there must be no other flowers that emit fragrance stronger than ume, I was surrounded by the smell while walking in the ume wood. As I took a walk within the precincts in the dusk, I felt the sweet and sour smell wafting everywhere. My whole body was sensing the aroma. I managed to maintain the sense I have trained in the storehouse until the evening.

As living in Tokyo, I feel my nose going numb with exhaust gas and other harmful factors. Or actually, if I use my nose keenly all the time, I would undoubtedly end up breaking down with all the evil smell around. Thus, I believe it is necessary to make an effort once in a while to recover the human sense just like how I did at the distillery. While Tokyo is a town I am fond of, there also is a negative aspect.

Translated by Maiko Noda