Saburomaru distillery (三郎丸蒸留所) in Toyama Prefecture has opened orders for the Saburomaru Holiday Collection 2026, a boxed set of 24 miniature bottles that traces the distillery’s peated whisky from its earliest numbered single malts to new make spirit and four casks that have not yet been released. Wakatsuru Shuzo (若鶴酒造), the sake brewery that runs the distillery, announced the set on October 12, 2026. Only 100 sets will be made, priced at ¥59,400 including tax, and the company lists both Japan and overseas markets as sales channels. For a small producer that has built its whole identity around smoke, this is the closest thing to a full archive tasting it has ever offered.
Pre-orders opened on October 11 for members of Saburomaru’s paid community program, through a lottery that runs until October 18. From October 19, any remaining sets go on general sale in limited numbers at the Taishogura (大正蔵) shop, the distillery’s own store in Tonami (砺波). Wakatsuru expects to ship orders in stages from mid-November, in time for the holiday season the set is named after.
What is inside the box
Each set holds 24 bottles of 30ml, for a total of 720ml. According to the press release, the lineup breaks down into four groups:
- Seven numbered single malts: every edition of the Single Malt Saburomaru series from II through VIII.
- Twelve earlier single cask and single malt releases that the distillery has sold over the years.
- Four future single casks drawn specially for this collection after further maturation. Wakatsuru says these are scheduled for release at a later date, so the set offers an advance look at bottlings that have not yet reached the market.
- One sample of the latest new make spirit, the unaged distillate that represents where the distillery is heading.
The release frames the whole set around Saburomaru’s stated core value, “The Ultimate Peat”, and invites drinkers to compare how each product and each cask expresses smoke differently. The ingredient listing is malt only. At ¥59,400 for 720ml, the per-sample price works out to ¥2,475 for each 30ml bottle.
Wakatsuru also gives a less common reason for the release. The company says the collection is partly a way to make good use of whisky that missed its sales window for various business reasons, so that carefully made spirit is not wasted. It describes this as part of a commitment to sustainable production, alongside the more familiar goal of thanking long-time supporters.
Readers new to the distillery can find its full history, from the 1952 whisky licence to the 2016 crowdfunding rescue, in our Saburomaru distillery guide.
Why this matters
Saburomaru is one of very few Japanese distilleries that make almost nothing but heavily peated whisky. President and master blender Takahiko Inagaki (稲垣貴彦) has spent the past decade turning a quiet regional producer into one of the most closely watched craft distilleries in Japan, most visibly through ZEMON, the cast bronze pot still made with a bell foundry in nearby Takaoka (高岡). A one-style distillery has a particular problem: from the outside, its releases can look alike. A 24-bottle set that puts seven numbered editions next to single casks and new make is a direct answer to that problem, because it lets drinkers see how much variation sits inside a single house style.
The inclusion of four unreleased casks is also notable. Japanese craft distilleries rarely publish their release pipeline, and fans usually learn about new bottlings only weeks before they go on sale. By putting future casks into a sample set, Saburomaru gives its most committed buyers a preview and, in practice, gathers early reactions before those casks are bottled in full.
The sustainability angle points to a wider issue for Japan’s young distilleries. Many of them have built their reputations on small-batch single casks and retailer exclusives, which leaves odd lots of stock when a planned release falls through. Wakatsuru does not say what the business reasons were in its own case. Repackaging such whisky into a premium collection is a practical way to use it without discounting, and other small distilleries facing the same issue may watch how quickly 100 sets sell. The release also continues a busy autumn for Saburomaru, which issued the mizunara-aged SAB. Ocean Blue 2nd Batch in September after a strong showing at the Asia World Spirits Awards in August.
For readers outside Japan
Wakatsuru lists overseas sales as a channel and says the international release will follow in stages. It has not announced which countries, retailers or prices are involved, and with only 100 sets in total, the number available abroad is likely to be very small. Readers in the US, UK and elsewhere should watch Saburomaru’s official channels and the specialist retailers that already stock Japanese craft whisky, listed in our guides to where to buy Japanese whisky in the US and in the UK.
Ordering from a Japanese shop and using a forwarding service is not a reliable alternative. Several major markets, including the US and Canada, restrict or prohibit spirits shipped this way, as explained in our guide to importing Japanese whisky from Japan. Visitors who will be in Toyama after October 19 have a simpler route: the Taishogura shop is part of the distillery, which also offers public tours, though general-sale stock is limited and may sell out quickly.
Anyone shopping for a holiday gift who misses the set can look at our Japanese whisky gift guide. For another small producer that uses a ZEMON still, see our profile of Hida Takayama distillery.
Source: PR TIMES (Wakatsuru Shuzo) (Japanese)