The Two Scotches on Our List: Laphroaig 10 and Macallan 18

Our whisky list is Japanese, deliberately. But two Scotches have earned a permanent spot, and they're about as far apart as the category allows.

Laphroaig 10

From Islay, the island off Scotland's west coast whose whiskies are defined by peat.

Peat is partially decomposed vegetation cut from bogs and burned to dry malted barley. The smoke gets into the grain and stays there through fermentation, distillation and years in cask. Islay peat is coastal, full of seaweed and maritime matter, and it produces a smoke that reads as medicinal rather than campfire.

Laphroaig is the most extreme expression of that. Matured in ex-bourbon barrels, the 10 is famously iodine-like, people reach for words like antiseptic, bandage and brine, and mean them as compliments.

There is no middle ground with it, which is the point.

Macallan 18 Sherry Oak

The opposite approach entirely.

A Speyside single malt, matured a minimum of eighteen years, predominantly in sherry-seasoned European oak casks from Jerez. Bottled at 43%.

"Sherry-seasoned" is worth understanding. These aren't old sherry casks bought secondhand, they're oak casks made to order and filled with sherry specifically to season the wood before whisky ever touches them. Macallan's cask program is the most expensive part of the whisky, and it's most of what you're paying for.

Full-bodied, with mature oak, ginger and raisin, and a natural mahogany color that comes from the wood rather than from added caramel.

Why We Keep Them

Because context helps.

Almost everything we pour is Japanese, and Japanese whisky is often described in relation to Scotch, Taketsuru learned in Scotland, the stills are Scottish in design, the vocabulary is borrowed.

Having a proper Islay and a proper sherried Speyside on the shelf means we can show you what the reference points actually taste like. Order Laphroaig next to Akkeshi, or Macallan next to Ikikko's Oloroso-aged koji whisky, and the Japanese bottles make more sense, not less.

How to Drink Them

Laphroaig neat, with water if you want it, a few drops genuinely opens the smoke rather than diluting it.

Macallan neat, at room temperature, and slowly.

Pair Them With

Laphroaig with unagi don. Smoke and kabayaki glaze is a genuinely great pairing, and it's the one that converts people.

Macallan with dorayaki, or on its own after dinner.

Try Them at Juraku

Both are on the whisky list at Izakaya Juraku, Lower East Side.