A Three Michelin-Starred Chef Helped Create a Rare Umami-Filled Scotch Whisky

Kei Kobayashi is recognized for his refined food, in particular his signature dish at his namesake restaurant in Paris comprised of a garden of crunchy vegetables, Scottish smoked salmon, arugula mousse and lemon emulsion. He earned three Michelin stars in 2020 and is celebrated for being the first Japanese chef to receive such a prestigious recognition in France.

The Nagano native is talented not just with food but with beverages, too, as he helped concoct the limited edition Johnnie Walker Blue Label Elusive Umami with another decorated industry figure, Dr. Emma Walker (nope, not related to the founder), who is the very first female master blender of the brand in its 200-year history.

Chef Kei Kobayashi

Photo by Angelo Comsti.

“Umami has been existing in Japan, I’m not even sure for how many years already, it could have been 1920s, so maybe 100 years this word has been around,” Kobayashi says. “But umami does not necessarily exist in each dish that we have. So it’s hard to define,” says the chef. “What I wanted to pursue was add aroma and taste. What I try to do in my specialty, which is gastronomy, is to make people happy and warm hearts. I try to do the same thing with this whiskey.”

The chef adds that umami literally means “delicious taste” and so he wanted to zero in on creating something delicious, and not so much using umami as the fifth flavor. 

Tableside pour of the Elusive Umami

Photo by Angelo Comsti.

Together with Walker, who was a chemist prior to landing a lucrative and elusive position at Diageo’s Technical Centre in Menstrie, Scotland, he handpicked the components they wanted to work with to immortalize umami in liquor form. Among the distilleries they used are Talisker, which provided a splash of sea brine and smokiness; Mortlach and Benrinnes, for hints of rich savouriness, as well as aged grain whiskies from Port Dundas and Cameronbridge. The result is a Scotch whisky with complexity and a transformative depth that becomes even more apparent when consumed with food.

On the nose, the Johnnie Walker Blue Label Elusive Umami lends fresh apple and confectionary sweetness mixed with cashew nuts and a salinity note. While on the mouth, it first delivers a fruity taste akin to white peach, mandarin, and red berries before moving to savoury whispers of wood spice and warming pepper.

Buckwheat waffle with caviar

Photo by Angelo Comsti.

Hay-smoked lobster

Photo by Angelo Comsti.

In the Singapore launch, both Kobayashi and Walker were in the flesh to present the sexy bottle of the new Blue Label. And selected guests from all over Asia (including this writer) not only got the privilege of being the first to try the liquid, but also enjoy it with a menu prepared by none other than the celebrity chef. 

Kobayashi’s menu included the two-biter buckwheat waffle with Kaviari Kristal Caviar with smoked salmon and sour cream, hay-smoked lobster with shiitake mushrooms and a sultry sauce, and the most sinful of them all, chocolate tart that had been sprayed by the Blue Label Elusive Umami tableside. The whisky danced very well with the dishes as they were in perfect blend and balance.

Chef Kobayashi (and interpreter) with Dr. Emma Walker

Photo by Angelo Comsti.

The Manila launch, which Walker graced, also offered the same dining experience as chefs Don Baldosano of Linamnam, Nicco Santos and Quenee Vilar of Cafe Aurora, and Edwin Loh of Makati Shangri-la Hotel paired the whisky with numbers that had the same complementing quality. It was even amplified with live music by the Manila Philharmonic Orchestra and LED walls that projected images that suggested earth, wind and water, which the menu took inspiration from.