Some 'Japanese whiskies' can no longer be called Japanese whisky, according to new rules. Photo: Filepic Like Japanese whisky? Well, it turns out that the Japanese whisky you think you may be drinking might not be Japanese at all. The big news this week in the whisky world has been the new rules for the labelling of Japanese whiskies, which clearly define what is ‘Japanese whisky’. Why is this big news? Well, because many ‘Japanese whisky’ brands in the market currently are actually blends of whiskies that are not made in Japan, but imported from Scotland, Ireland, USA, Canada, and other whisky-producing countries.