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STILL POWER | Copper pot stills in the Hakushu distillery My b #file_links\keywords15.txt, #file_links\keywords11.txt,1,S] 1,S] arman has much to say about the properties of the water used in Hakushu and Suntory's other famed single malt, Yamazaki (the Japanese are obsessed with water, ascribing mystical attributes to it). "The water for Yamazaki was used in the tea ceremony for centuries," he explains. "It has some remarkable quality. We can't put our finger on it scientifically." And, indeed, Sen no Rikyu鈥攖he 16th-century tea master who perfected the tea ceremony鈥攃hose Yamazaki water for his tea. Yet the unique properties of Japanese malts are ab #file_links\keywords14.txt,1,S] out more than water.As proud as the Japanese are of their achievements with single malt, the whiskies they drink most often are blended. "The Japanese co #file_links\keywords12.txt,1,S] nsumer has no patience for tastes out of balance," explains Neyah White, a former bartender from San Francisco and current brand ambassador for Suntory. "Since the vast majority of the #file_links\keywords13.txt,1,S] whisky consumed gets stretched with water, in the form of the Highball, the blenders are critical." The whisky, in other words, has to hold its own against water. Another curious specialization is the use of native Japanese oak in fermentation barrels鈥攁n oak known as Mizunara. Whisky matured in Mizunara barrels loses an exceptional amount of water through evaporation, making for a much more condensed final product. Moreover, says White, "the incense and sandalwood aromas they impart just cannot be found anywhere else." The bar's air of quiet, mastered pleasure mirrors the astonishing ascendency of Japanese whisky, which regularly surpasses its Scottish progenitor in international whisky awards.