Two Japanese craft distilleries that started distilling in the same year have swapped matured malt and each made their own whisky from the pair. Shindo (新道) in Asakura, Fukuoka, and Niigata Kameda (新潟亀田) in Niigata are releasing twin bottlings in October under a project Shindo calls “Cross Distillery.” It is an unusual step in Japan, where distillers have historically kept their spirit to themselves.
Same spirit, different vatting
Both distilleries began production in 2021. For the first Cross Distillery release, each selected non-peated, bourbon-barrel-matured malt from several of its own casks and sent it to the other. Each team then vatted the two components to its own recipe. Japanese retailer listings sum up the idea as “same spirit, different vatting” (同じ原酒。違うヴァッティング。): two whiskies built from the same two sources, interpreted by two different blenders.
The Shindo bottling, SHINDO Cross Distillery 01, is listed at 48% ABV in a 700ml bottle for ¥16,500, with a release date of October 15. Niigata Kameda’s version, OHTANI WHISKY KAMEDA85 feat. SHINDO, is bottled at 55% ABV, also 700ml and ¥16,500, with pre-orders shipping around October 29. Retail descriptions call the Kameda bottling a blended malt Japanese whisky. That is the category you would expect for a vatting of malt from two distilleries. Neither side has published an outturn, and the “85” in the Kameda name has not been explained.
Kameda’s product notes explain what each spirit brings. Shindo’s malt is credited with an estery, floral top note of vanilla and peach, which the distillery attributes to its use of multiple yeast strains. Kameda points to its wooden washbacks and a narrow middle cut, which it says give tropical-fruit esters and a clean spirit. Kameda says it did not use either spirit to patch the other’s gaps. Instead, it aimed for a glass that opens with Shindo’s aromatics and finishes long, as it describes its own house style. These are the producer’s descriptions; we have not tasted either whisky.
Both are small operations with unusual owners. Shindo belongs to Shindo Lab, the spirits arm of an Asakura sake and amazake brewer. Niigata Kameda is run by Niigata Small Distillery (新潟小規模蒸溜所), backed by the seal and stamp maker Ohtani. Kameda has already drawn attention abroad, and its peated new make won a world’s-best category title at the World Whiskies Awards in 2026.
Why it matters outside Japan
In Scotland, distillers routinely trade new make and casks with each other. That swapping is what makes the country’s blends possible. Japan’s industry grew up without that culture. The large producers built a range of stills and cask types in-house to produce variety, and craft distilleries have mostly bottled only their own spirit. A structured exchange between two young independents, released as a named series with “01” on the label, suggests Japan’s new wave of distilleries is starting to cooperate the way Scotland’s does. And unlike blends that lean on imported whisky, every drop here comes from a Japanese distillery. Retailers list both bottles as Japanese whisky.
For readers outside Japan, availability will be the hurdle. So far, both whiskies have been announced only through Japanese retailers, with no export or overseas distributor. Buying either one will likely mean a Japanese online shop that ships abroad or a proxy service. Our guide to importing Japanese whisky explains how that works.
Source: Whisky777 (Japanese); product details from retailer listings at Wine Square Azumazuru and Sakeya Shimodaira (Japanese)