Suntory World Whisky Ao Comprehensive Review

Suntory World Whisky Ao has been available in the Japanese and Global Travel Retail markets for sometime now. To the delight of many, it was announced that in 2023 it would also arrive in the markets of Canada, Taiwan, Singapore, Korea, and the United States. According to the press release, “blended using whisky from Suntory Group’s own distilleries in five of the world’s most renowned whisky-regions: Scotland, Ireland, Canada, Japan and the US, Suntory World Whisky Ao, meaning blue, is named after the oceans that connect these whiskies of the world together. The bottle is five-sided in honor of the five major whisky-making regions. The calligraphic lettering was written by Japanese calligrapher Tansetsu Ogino with an intent to represent the whiskies’ global origins and Japanese craftsmanship.”

The nose opens more akin to the whiskey found in Japan, Ireland, and Scotland versus those in the blend from the U.S. and Canada. Notes of light fresh cut wood and hints of smoke are immediately noticeable and delivered with a subtle gentleness. Inhaling deeper brings about lighter scents vanilla wafer and dried tropical fruit mix. It’s a pleasant way to open up the sip with all of the scents mingling nicely together, however, their lightness seems to be holding them back from their true potential.

The palate starts off similar to the nose, however weaves in slightly more of the American and Canadian whiskey influence. Sweeter flavors of light caramel and buttered toffee intermix with light wet oak and ground nutmeg. Exploring further reveals notes of light creamy vanilla and touches of smoke along with the slightest hint of white peppercorn spice. The whiskey carries with it a thin mouthfeel which can most likely be attributed to the proof chosen for the blend. Overall it’s a fine combination of flavors with creaminess being the star, but their overall lightness leaves something to be desired.

Sweetness carries over from the palate in the form of gentle vanilla cream. Light buttery oak and a slight spice join in with the faintest hint of smoke. The whiskey once again leans more towards its Japanese, Irish, and Scottish roots, providing for a grounded yet slightly sweet finish. It’s pleasant without any major faults, albeit an incredibly simple way to end the sip.

Blended whiskey isn’t a new concept, especially to American whiskey drinkers. Suntory World Whisky Ao however, takes this multi-country blending concept and turns it up to 11 by including seven distilleries, from five countries, and three continents representing the House of Suntory’s first-ever world blended whiskey.

It both makes sense and is also surprising that it took Beam Suntory this long to capitalize on the fact that it plays in every major whiskey producing market globally. While blending scotch, Irish, and Japanese whiskey would have made sense due to the more common flavor profiles that you find among the three, the introduction of North American whiskey is fascinating. Both from a flavor profile perspective, but also from a coordination perspective. While Beam Suntory doesn’t state the percentages of the blend, they do still have to coordinate all of the whiskeys from the seven different distilleries in order for them to be blended. No matter if this is piecemeal or all at once, the fact of the matter is, you still have to move all of this liquid across several oceans and continents to make this happen.

While the creation of this whiskey is incredibly unique, the end flavor profile is less so. Again without the disclosure of the blend percentages from each distillery, it’s hard to definitively say if one whiskey was used more so than the others. My guess would be that the blend is lighter on American and Canadian whiskey components compared to the others used. The resulting sip will be surprising for many American whiskey drinkers, especially those accustomed to bourbon or rye. The sip itself contains less typical oak and spice notes that you might find in an American or even Canadian whiskey, instead focusing on notes you’d find in a Japanese or Irish whiskey with a thread of smoke to make the Scottish component noticeable.

Consumers generally complain about sourced whiskey. What’s interesting is that this has been internally gathered from the distilleries underneath one parent company. This is not the same as a company buying whiskey from a distillery and then bottling it, but in many ways it’s logistically similar to what American whiskey sourcing looks like today with more and more blending taking place. You’d think that shipping around whiskey from five different countries and seven different distilleries would add a large amount of overhead, however, Suntory World Whisky Ao carries with it a surprisingly accessible MSRP of only $55.

Production and logistic costs aside, the whiskey inside of the bottle is a slight conundrum. If you’re a fan of any particular style of the blends used in this whiskey, you’re probably better off buying a bottle from that region to scratch your whiskey itch. If you like trying different styles or concepts of whiskey, Suntory World Whisky Ao is a fun concept to try with a very reasonable price tag.

Suntory World Whisky Ao Comprehensive Review

Bottle Info

Classification: Blended Whiskey

Company: Beam Suntory

Distillery: Ardmore Distillery, Glen Garioch Distillery, Cooley Distillery, Alberta Distillery, Jim Beam Clermont Distillery, Yamazaki Distillery, and Hakushu Distillery

Release Date: Ongoing

Proof: 86

Age: NAS

Mashbill: Undisclosed blend of Scotch whisky, Irish whiskey, Canadian whisky, American whiskey, and Japanese whisky

Color: Straw

MSRP: $55 (2023)

Official Website

Reader Rating192 Votes

9.9

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