It’s difficult to say the words “single malt” without quickly following them up with “scotch.” But while Scotland is indeed the largest producer of single-malt whiskies, Japan is the second-largest distiller of single malts in the world. This revelation is even more impressive when one realizes that while Scotland has well over 100 distilleries, Japan has one tenth that number, with only Suntory and Nikka as dominant brand names. But of these two, Suntory is decidedly the larger entity, and it has much more re…