Ao — the Japanese word for blue, the color of the sea that connects continents — is Suntory's most audacious blending experiment. Released in 2019 to mark the company's long tradition of importing whiskies from around the world, Ao is a marriage of five nations: Scotch from Suntory-owned Bowmore and Auchentoshan, Irish whiskey from Cooley (formerly), bourbon from Jim Beam, Canadian from Alberta Distillers, and Japanese from Yamazaki, Hakushu and Chita. The entire blend is then finished and bottled in Japan.
Chief Blender Shinji Fukuyo described Ao as a whisky you could taste a world journey in, and the conceit holds up in the glass. The nose opens with classic bourbon vanilla and banana bread, but a thread of Islay-adjacent smoke appears almost immediately, along with dried tropical fruit — pineapple, mango skin — that feels very Japanese in its restraint.
The palate is where the choreography sings. Honey and orange marmalade lead, then a tingling rye spice suggests the Alberta and Beam components, coconut and vanilla from American oak, and finally a soft curl of Highland peat. It never feels crowded; Fukuyo has stitched the voices together with real elegance rather than simply layering them.
The finish carries baked apple and ash in equal measure. Ao will not replace a great single malt in any camp, but it succeeds brilliantly at what it set out to do — demonstrate that a master Japanese blender can conduct five nations into a single harmonious chord. Drink it neat, and let the map unfold on your tongue.
