Sapporo Shusei Kogyo (札幌酒精工業), a spirits maker in Sapporo, will release Japan’s first whisky bottled under Hokkaido’s new “Gold Quibis” (ゴールドキビス) corn whisky standard on September 16, 2026. The bottling, named Kai (加伊), uses stock that has spent three years in cask — the minimum the regional standard requires — and is limited to 640 bottles.
Kai is the first product to come out of the Hokkaido Corn Whisky Project (道産コーンウイスキープロジェクト), which the public research body Hokkaido Research Organization (HRO) launched in fiscal 2021 with nine Hokkaido companies and organizations spanning corn farming, distilling and distribution. Sapporo Shusei, a shochu and spirits producer founded in 1933, is one of the participating distillers. Hokkaido grows more corn than any other Japanese prefecture, and the project’s goal, in HRO’s own words, is to build “a world-class Hokkaido whisky” from that local grain.
To carry the Gold Quibis name, a whisky has to clear rules that go well beyond Japan’s national labeling standard (see our guide to how Japanese whisky is defined). Both the corn and the water have to come from Hokkaido, malt must be used alongside the corn, mashing, fermentation and distillation must all happen at a Hokkaido distillery, the spirit must age at least three years in wooden casks stored in Hokkaido, and it must be bottled in Hokkaido at 40% ABV or higher. The public voted on the “Gold Quibis” name from 2,274 submissions in November 2022, and the project trademarked it in July 2023.
Sapporo Shusei gave drinkers an early look in August 2024 with a one-year-old preview bottling called New Born, sold at 60% ABV in 300ml bottles. Kai is the first release to clear the three-year cask minimum and carry the Gold Quibis name outright, which is why the September 16 launch matters more than a routine limited edition would.
Kai is a Hokkaido-only release for now. Sapporo Shusei has not announced export plans, and a run of 640 bottles is unlikely to reach shelves outside Japan any time soon. What makes it worth watching internationally is the standard behind it rather than the bottle itself. Japan’s 2021 industry labeling rules define “Japanese whisky” nationally but set no rules by prefecture or grain, unlike Scotland’s regional identities or the corn-content thresholds that define American straight whiskeys. Gold Quibis is closer to a European-style regional appellation, built voluntarily by an industry-and-research consortium rather than by government regulation. It sits at the opposite end of Japan’s labeling debate from Kyushu producers making koji-based spirits that avoid the whisky label altogether (see our koji whisky explainer): where those producers sidestep the definition, Gold Quibis tightens it. If the standard catches on, it could give other prefectures a template for grain-specific styles of their own, alongside Hokkaido’s existing single malt distilleries such as Akkeshi and Yoichi, and the new distillery under construction further into the island’s interior.
Source: Hokkaido Shimbun (Japanese)