by cowdery » Sun Jan 13, 2008 11:32 pm
There are a lot of bourbons sold in Japan (and other countries) that are not sold in the United States. They can come from many different sources, from private labels created for a customer (a retail store, a bar, a distributor, even an individual), to special labels created by a distiller, to labels created by a non-distiller producer using bulk whiskey. The thing is, if the brand isn't sold in the USA, and doesn't identify a real distillery (there are, after all, only a handful so it's not hard to keep track) it's probably an undistinguished whiskey in a package someone thought would sell.
I don't think there is any big problem in Japan with counterfeits, but that's a problem in some other parts of Asia, such as China, Thailand, Viet Nam and India. In those places (and others) something labeled "bourbon whiskey" may not even be a product of the United States or even actual whiskey.