Yamaga Distillery (山鹿蒸溜所), the only whisky producer in Kumamoto Prefecture, will release “Yamaga 2026 Edition” on October 8, 2026, its first non-peated single malt in roughly a year. The 700ml bottle is finished at 55% ABV and will sell for 11,000 yen including tax, continuing a house style the distillery calls “elegant” and “fruity and creamy.”
A Coca-Cola bottler’s shochu plant turned whisky distillery
Yamaga Distillery is backed by MCA Holdings, a Tokyo-based company spun off from the liquor business of what was South Kyushu Coca-Cola Bottling, now part of Coca-Cola Bottlers Japan. The site began operating as a shochu plant in 2013 before converting to whisky production, and the current distillery building, on the same plot as the former shochu factory, was completed in November 2021. It houses a single bulge-shaped pot still standing 4.6 meters tall and draws water from the Kunimi mountain range and Kikuchi River system; a 1,043-square-meter warehouse racks up to 3,300 casks. The distillery released its first single malt in 2025 with technical assistance from Hombo Shuzo (本坊酒造), the Kagoshima company behind Mars Whisky, whose Mars Shinshu and Mars Tsunuki single malts already sell in export markets.
“Yamaga 2026 Edition” carries forward the profile of “Yamaga The First,” the distillery’s original non-peated release, which the distillery describes as built on bourbon-cask sweetness reminiscent of Western pastry, layered with cask aromas that deepen with age. The distillery’s own tasting notes describe aromas of freshly baked apple pie, apple and vanilla, a palate of fruit-tart sweetness and a custard-like richness, and a finish of caramel bitterness with a long, apple-compote sweetness. It follows a peated expression the distillery released on July 3, 2026, and both wins at the 2025 Tokyo Whisky & Spirits Competition, where “Yamaga New Born 2024” and “Yamaga Distillery New Pot #6” took gold medals, suggest a distillery building a track record quickly for one that only opened five years ago.
Why it matters beyond Japan
Kumamoto is not a region whisky drinkers outside Japan associate with the category yet, and Yamaga is currently a small producer selling mostly through domestic channels, with bottling runs sized for roughly 40,000 to 50,000 bottles a year. What makes it worth watching is the Hombo Shuzo connection: the same technical know-how behind Mars Shinshu and Mars Tsunuki, two single malts already established with overseas drinkers, is now backing a second brand. Japan now counts more than 120 whisky distilleries as of this spring, according to industry tracking, and most, like Yamaga, remain difficult to find outside the country even as a handful of flagship names dominate what overseas buyers see on shelves. For visitors to Japan, the distillery runs public tours with a viewing corridor and a tasting lounge, making it a stop worth planning around for anyone traveling through Kyushu.
Source: Japanese Whisky Dictionary (jpwhisky.net) (Japanese)