Guided tour of Suntorys Yamazaki Whisky Destellery in Kyoto - booked!

Now that I have more or less scheduled how to spend my week in Japan and booked the accommodation in Kyoto, I tried to reserve a seat on the whiskey tour on Suntory . On Suntorys web there is only a telephone number and despite attempts to try googling up an email address, I did not find a single one. (Nor was there a single person on Santori in Japan on LinkedIn). When I accidentally ended up in a thread on TripAdvisor about this tour and read "However bookings are essential as the tour Proves popular. When we phoned three months in advance there was only a few spaces left on the date we wanted to go" I began to get a little nervous.

However, when I called today, Monday 2/9, it was no problem at all to book a place exactly on the day and time I wanted (Friday 13/9 at 14.00). So my fears were unfounded.

Called with Skype for iPhone by the way, so convenient and cheap with their mobile app where you can call out to ordinary numbers worldwide and it costs almost nothing.

Is Japanese whiskey any good then? At blind tastings, it is impossible to distinguish Japanese from Scottish. Last year, the  Yamazaiki 25-year-old whiskey´was named world's best Malt in Whisky Magazine , this year it was beaten by Ardbeg Galileo but kept the place as best Japanese malt whiskey. By coincidence, it is precisely this Yamazaki that is manufactured in Kyoto so I will be sure to try it out. (Though perhaps not in such large quantities, as a bottle costs around 1000 USD:-)

How do I get there then? By train from Kyoto:

• JR Kyoto Station to JR Yamazaki Station (about 15 minutes))

• The distillery is located about 10 minutes on foot from JR Yamazaki Station and Hankyu Oyamazaki Station.