Japanese highball called WIZ
7% alcohol, barrel-aged whisky, cheap enough to make you suspicious.
BY JEFF
Go for a friendly stroll around your local CAINZ home center and you may notice they have a surprisingly decent selection of drinky-poos. Fruit juice in tiny cans, glass bottles of beer and whisky, and then an entire showcase dedicated to WIZ. (cough, cough!)
Now I wiz several times a day, and while the colour may look vaguely similar to whatever is inside these cans, I’m pretty sure they aren’t actually bottling piss. Even if your uncle claims he can recycle beer that way – I don’t think it’s healthy… Or legal.
So what exactly is Wiz? The bottled stuff is whisky, while the canned stuff is a 7% Highball, and at ¥118-ish, it’s certainly cheap enough to investigate.
The can is a dull brown colour, presumably trying to push the whole barrel-aged whisky thing, although the most interesting thing about it is really the name.
WIZ.
Seriously, who came up with that? Michael Jackson? Tee-hee.
🥃 SO, HOW DOES IT TASTE?
I poured it into my trusty beer glass, added some ice and gave it a go. It looks like a Highball, smells like a Highball and, surprisingly, tastes a bit like one too.
The ingredients list whisky, spirits, salt, sugar, carbonation, flavouring and acidulant, so this clearly isn’t trying to be some sort of premium whisky experience. Still, it’s not terrible, and At 7%, I expected something that felt like sandpaper on the tongue. Instead it was more like licking the living-room carpet.
Without the hairs.
And… raisins.
Yes, raisins. Honest.
After a long day at work, one tin did seem to have an effect, though. I was slowing down, getting a little wobbly and beginning to wonder whether this might be excellent hangover fuel. The whisky/spirits combination certainly seems to pack a punch for something costing ¥118.
💰 VALUE: 3/5
It’s cheap, it’s 7%, and it doesn’t taste completely fucking awful. That’s enough to earn three stars from me.
😈 BAD DECISION: 3/5
One tin? Probably fine. A few tins when you’ve already been drinking? Now we’re entering dangerous Jeff territory.
⭐ BDJ SCORE: 2.5/5
It’s cheap, boozy and surprisingly drinkable, but it’s not exactly going to replace your favourite whisky. Still, there’s something wonderfully stupid about sitting down after work and saying:
“Fancy a pint of Wiz, love?”
💰 VALUE: 3/5
👅 TASTE: 2/5
🔄 DRINK AGAIN?: MAYBE
😈 BAD DECISION: 3/5
⭐ BDJ SCORE: 2.5/5
Wiz – ¥118-ish at CAINZ. Prices and taste may vary by store. Depending where you go it might actually be “wiz”
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