Alternatives: "Give her another highball"

When Susan Alexander (played by the lovely Dorothy Comingdore) and Thompson order highballs in Citizen Kane (dir. Orson Welles, 1941), it pretty much seems like the coolest drink ever.

A drunk and lovelorn Susan after one too many highballs

The highball, for cocktail non-connaisseuses like One Woman, is basically, a mixed drink made with whiskey, and soda in its most basic form. Other additions and substitutions like lemon peel or ginger ale are also options.

Cut ahead 69 years... far, far, away from Kane's Xanadu: Tokyo, Japan 2010. With domestic whiskey sales dragging, the large beverage corporation Suntory (one of the top 4 beer corporations in Japan) suddenly releases a huge national campaign to promote the sales of whiskey in 2009. The Suntory campaign markets whiskey not in pure form or even on the rocks, but as the much more tempered, easy-going highball. The most visible and tangible artifacts of this aggressive campaign are posters and TV commercials featuring the pale-faced heian-cool flawless-skinned beer-gulping beauty named Koyuki, paired with vintage imagery hearkening to the good old Showa-era days. And it's _everywhere_.

Koyuki will teach you the ancient art of highball mixing--please, be gentle; don't stir too much

In any case, the highball--whether mixed, on tap, or in a can--has been highly visible everywhere in Tokyo recently. It was only a matter of time before One Woman had to try it.

Taste Test:
There's somewhat of a gap between the visuals and the taste. Suntory's highballs come in large beer mugs emblazoned with the company's kakubin whiskey logo. Serve in a super-chilled glass with lots of ice.

The suntory kakubin highball is served in a special kaku-mug (kaku means corner in Japanese). 

Notice  the angular tortoise shell-like wedges on the glass.

In the end, the kakubin highball is basically, a splash of plain whiskey with lots of fizzy ice water. Besides, Suntory's large mugs can't compare to those dainty goblets that Susan Alexander drinks out of (though, I'm told that a 'highball glass' is a tumbler--closer in kind to a mug than a goblet). Still, the highball was a nice pre-dinner cocktail; a fine alternative to the usual beer that often precedes any izakaya-dining occasion. Suntory's recommended lower end blended whiskey, "kakubin," which sells for around ¥2000/bottle, does the job well. Soft, mellow, sweet, with just a wisp of caramelized dark sugar, it doesn't have much vanilla or smoke character that you might desire from a fine bourbon or scotch. But sometimes that's not necessary. Kakubin whiskey is the type of whiskey that takes a backseat to the occasion, letting you enjoy the moment without diverting your critical attention from the food or the wonderful company.

Musical pairing: "How High the Moon"--the soundtrack of my imagined highball drinking experience circa 1940: pinnacle of the big band era, golden age of Hollywood. A smokey-eyed Helen Forrest with the Benny Goodman Orchestra on stage at some private penthouse ball, an amber autumn moon reflected by the glass crown on the Chrysler building. Music by Morgan Lewis; lyrics by Nancy Hamilton.