【Whiskey Culture Research Institute, Inc.】 Visit the little-known Chinese whiskey distillery where Pernod Ricard also participates! “Connoisseur Club” Vol. 10 will be published on October 31st!
Whiskey Culture Research Institute, Inc. Press release: October 30, 2025 To Members of the Press Visit the little-known Chinese whiskey distillery where Pernod Ricard has also entered the industry! “Connoisseur Club” Vol. 10 will be published on October 31st! Connoisseur Club, written by Mamoru Tsuchiya, a leading figure in whiskey journalism, delivers high-level information for advanced whiskey drinkers. This issue focuses on the whiskey scene in China, which is growing at an astonishing pace. *Advanced whiskey
drinker…Intended for those who hold a “whisky connoisseur” qualification and have comprehensive knowledge and appraisal skills related to whiskey. Whiskey Culture Research Institute, Inc. Whiskey Culture Research Institute Inc. (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Mamoru Tsuchiya) will release Vol. 10 of the Connoisseur Club, an information magazine delivering higher-level, cutting-edge topics, on October 31, 2025. Available for purchase at the Whisky Culture Research Institute online shop. Whisky Connoisseur Club members will receive a free gift.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/119996/255/119996-255-87a3614d96b469c3a79847e197f14bec-1512×2138.jpg
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/119996/255/119996-255-899b4b99111e8bcbe41fc53aa0ea927d-960×679.jpg ●Popular series “Portrait of a Master of Whisky, Part 10: Hajime Sato” The Master of Whisky is the highest level of connoisseurship qualification. Sato passed this notoriously difficult exam with the highest score ever. He was hired mid-career by Asahi Breweries and worked as a whiskey ambassador, but he decided that he needed to have his own unique weapon, and he successfully secured this position. The editor-in-chief spoke to Sato, who is currently working towards founding a new company.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/119996/255/119996-255-6bbe6fa751b80e8ab5f9a0927210dc12-960×679.jpg ●Other Featured Content “Stores with Whisky Connoisseurs” introduces liquor stores and bars with reliable staff who hold whiskey
connoisseur qualifications. Includes the latest “List of Japanese Whisky Distilleries.”
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/119996/255/119996-255-d3a2d60db839902296ca605a5e60529e-960×679.jpg Bibliographic information [Magazine title] Connoisseur Club (vol. 10) [Publication date] October 31, 2025 [Published] 4 times a year [Price] 1,100 yen (tax included) [Size] A4 [Number of Pages] 20-30 pages [Editor/Publisher] Mamoru Tsuchiya [Publisher] Whisky Culture Research Institute [Website] Whisky Connoisseur Club
https://whiskyconnoisseur.jp/club/ [Sales] Whisky Culture Research Institute Online Shop https://www.scotchclub-shop.org/ ● Please refrain from using the images included in this press release for purposes other than this announcement or for any secondary use. About the Whisky Culture Institute The Whisky Culture Institute is an organization dedicated to promoting whiskey culture, headed by whiskey critic Mamoru Tsuchiya. Since its launch in March 2001, the Institute has conducted extensive research to gain a deeper understanding of whiskey and alcohol culture in general, both in Japan and abroad, and has been collecting and disseminating information. We have also worked with industry stakeholders to plan, develop, and implement initiatives aimed at nurturing whiskey enthusiasts and drinkers and promoting whiskey culture. We edit and publish Japan’s only whiskey magazine, “Whisky Galore,” and plan and manage events such as whiskey festivals. We also host the “Whiskey Connoisseur Certification Exam,” a certification program that tests whiskey knowledge and appraisal skills, and the “Whiskey Exam,” which tests knowledge needed to enjoy whiskey. Furthermore, since 2019, we have also been running the “Tokyo Whisky & Spirits Competition (TWSC),” Japan’s only whiskey and spirits tasting event, judging whiskeys and spirits from around the world. Profile of Mamoru Tsuchiya, Representative of the Whisky Culture Research Institute Born in Sado, Niigata Prefecture in 1954. Graduated from the Faculty of Letters at Gakushuin University. After working as a weekly magazine journalist, he moved to the UK in 1987. It was during a reporting assignment in Scotland that he encountered single malt Scotch for the first time and became obsessed with Scotch. After returning to Japan, he worked as a whisky critic, and in 1998 was selected as one of the “Top Five Whisky Writers in the World” by Highland Distillers. He also served as the whisky research supervisor for the NHK morning drama series “Massan,” which aired from September 2014 to March 2015. He is also the editor-in-chief of Japan’s only bimonthly magazine specializing in whisky, “Whisky Galore,” the executive committee chairman of the Tokyo Whisky & Spirits Competition and the executive committee chairman of Japanese Whisky Day, and the representative director of the Japan Whisky Culture Promotion Association, a general incorporated association established in 2024. His main publications and books he has supervised include “The Complete Single Malt Scotch Encyclopedia,” “The Blended Whisky Encyclopedia,” “New and Expanded Edition: Official Whisky
Certification Textbook” (Shogakukan), “Masataka Taketsuru and Whisky” (Tokyo Shoseki), “The Latest Edition: The Complete Whisky Bible,” “A Textbook for Enjoying Whisky” (Natsume Publishing), “Whiskey as Business Education: Why Is Luxury Whisky Now Selling for 200 Million Yen?” (KADOKAWA), “Japanese Whisky as Business Education” (Shodensha), “Mamoru Tsuchiya’s One Thousand and One Nights of Whisky (Volumes 1-5),” and “The Japanese Whisky Yearbook (Japan Distillery Yearbook)” (Whisky Culture Research Institute).