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Michelin-starred chef Kei Kobayashi and blended scotch whisky brand Johnnie Walker have collaborated on a new Blue Label release called Elusive Umami. We had a chance to talk to the chef and Johnnie Walker master blender Emma Walker about the new release, the importance of aroma, and how the name of this whisky could cause some confusion.
Kobayashi is the owner of the restaurant Kei in Paris, which earned three Michelin stars in 2020 making him the first Japanese chef to achieve that honor in the City of Light. Robb Report spoke to him over Zoom (with the help of a translator) about this new whisky collaboration and the inspiration behind it. “I feel like there’s a slight misunderstanding of this concept,” he said. “Umami is two words—the word ‘delicious’ and the word ‘taste,’ so it literally means ‘delicious taste.’ I wanted to focus on creating something delicious, not so much umami as a fifth flavor.”
In other words, don’t expect the intensely salty, savory notes you probably associate with anything labeled “umami.” Official tasting notes describe a combination of sweet and savory on the palate along with a bit of smoke and fruit, and a nose full of nutty, salty brine. The nose is of particular importance to Kobayashi, who puts fragrance front and center in his cooking. “As a chef, we have to stimulate all five senses,” he said. “But taste comes last. First is vision and second is aroma. Since whisky combines fragrance with taste, which is my speciality, I focused on how we can have those two elements coexist…