Japan Whisky Press

Category: Distilleries

Profiles of whisky distilleries across Japan.

  • Yoichi distillery: Nikka coal-fired whisky guide

    Yoichi distillery: Nikka coal-fired whisky guide

    Yoichi distillery is Nikka’s founding site in Hokkaido, built in 1934 by Masataka Taketsuru, the engineer often called the father of Japanese whisky. It is best known for coal-fired pot stills, a direct-fire distillation method that has almost disappeared even in Scotland, where Taketsuru first learned it. For overseas readers, Yoichi is also one of the easiest Japanese distilleries to actually visit, with free public tours and a museum that requires no reservation.

    What is Yoichi distillery

    Yoichi is a single malt whisky distillery in the coastal town of Yoichi (余市), on the western side of Hokkaido, owned and operated by Nikka Whisky Distilling. It was founded by Masataka Taketsuru, who traveled to Scotland in 1918 to study distilling firsthand before bringing that knowledge back to Japan. Yoichi is often described as Japan’s spiritual home of single malt, and it remains one of the country’s most historically significant sites for anyone researching what is Japanese whisky and where its Scottish influences came from. Nikka itself has grown into one of Japan’s two largest whisky producers alongside Suntory, and Yoichi remains the company’s oldest and most closely identified production site, distinct from its sister distillery Miyagikyo on the mainland.

    Taketsuru’s search for a Japanese Scotland

    Taketsuru chose the Yoichi site deliberately, after years spent studying distilling in Scotland from 1918. He wanted a location that matched Scotland’s cool maritime climate, clean air, and reliable spring water, and Yoichi’s position on Hokkaido’s coast, fed by underground springs from the surrounding mountains, fit that brief closely. The distillery was completed and began production in 1934, making it the founding site of what would become Nikka Whisky Distilling and one of the two original poles, alongside Yamazaki, of Japan’s modern whisky industry.

    Taketsuru had returned from Scotland in 1920 with more than technical knowledge: he brought home his Scottish wife, Rita Cowan, whom he had married that year. After a stint helping establish Suntory’s Yamazaki distillery, he set out on his own, founding a company called Dai Nippon Kaju, or the Great Japanese Juice Company, in 1934. While Yoichi’s first whisky matured in cask, the company sold apple juice made from local Hokkaido apples to generate income, only shortening its name to Nikka in 1952 once whisky sales were established.

    What set Yoichi apart from the start was Taketsuru’s insistence on direct coal-fired distillation, the same method used at Longmorn distillery in Scotland, where he had trained. Coal firing was common practice in Scotland during Taketsuru’s student years, but it has almost entirely disappeared there since, replaced by steam heating that is easier to control. Yoichi kept the old method, and it remains one of the very few distilleries anywhere in the world still using it today.

    What Yoichi makes: coal fire and a toasted, robust character

    Direct coal firing works by heating the pot stills with an open flame rather than internal steam coils, which means the wash inside is exposed to much higher and less even heat. That intensity lightly scorches the wash against the inside of the still, a process widely credited with giving Yoichi’s spirit its distinctively toasty, slightly smoky, full-bodied character compared to steam-distilled Japanese malts. Maintaining coal fires also demands more physical labor than modern heating methods, since staff must shovel and monitor the fires by hand rather than adjusting a dial, and Nikka has kept the practice going as both a production choice and a point of institutional pride that visitors can see firsthand on a distillery tour.

    Nikka has adjusted its labeling approach over the years in response to supply constraints. In 2015, the company discontinued the 10, 12, and 15-year-old age statements on Yoichi single malt because of a shortage of sufficiently aged stock driven by rising global demand. A permanent no-age-statement Yoichi Single Malt followed in 2016, blending spirit matured in a mix of casks, including new American oak and ex-sherry, to preserve a consistent house style without relying on a fixed number of years in cask.

    Key bottles and flavor profile

    Bottle Type Cask influence Notes
    Yoichi Single Malt (no age statement) Permanent single malt release Mix of new American oak and ex-sherry casks Replaced age-stated range in 2016; bottled at 45% ABV
    Yoichi Single Malt 10 Year Old Age-stated single malt, annual limited release Selected mature casks Returned in 2022 after age statements were dropped in 2015
    Nikka Whisky From The Barrel Blended whisky Blend built around Yoichi and Miyagikyo malts Widely distributed internationally; showcases Yoichi’s character within a blend

    The no-age-statement single malt is the most reliable way to taste Yoichi’s coal-fired character on a regular basis, with the toasted, robust notes the distillery is known for. The 10 Year Old, when available, adds more depth and polish from additional cask time, while From The Barrel offers a more affordable, widely available way to sample Yoichi’s influence blended alongside Miyagikyo, Nikka’s other malt distillery.

    Can international readers buy Yoichi, or visit the distillery

    Buying Yoichi from outside Japan is more straightforward than most of the country’s smaller craft distilleries, since Nikka is a major producer with established export channels. Nikka is part of the Asahi Group, one of Japan’s largest beverage companies, which gives its whisky brands a distribution network that far outstrips what an independent distillery like Chichibu or Akkeshi can manage on its own. The no-age-statement Yoichi Single Malt is available through Nikka’s international distributors in North America, Europe, and Australia, generally priced around $90 depending on market. The Yoichi Single Malt 10 Year Old, which returned as an annual limited release in 2022, launched at a suggested retail price of about $175 and rolled out to the UK before reaching the US, so availability and timing can lag by market and by year. Nikka Whisky From The Barrel is the easiest Yoichi-related bottle to find almost anywhere, since it is one of Nikka’s most widely distributed blends.

    Visiting is genuinely accessible, which is unusual for a Japanese whisky distillery. Yoichi offers free guided tours that end with a complimentary tasting of up to three whiskies per person, though participants must be of legal drinking age and cannot be driving afterward. Tours fill up quickly, often two weeks ahead, so booking in advance is strongly recommended. The on-site Nikka Museum and entrance area, including a shop, require no reservation and can be explored at leisure, and paid options exist for visitors who want more depth, including a Key Malt Tasting Seminar and a longer Blend Seminar where guests build their own blend. The distillery sits close to Yoichi Station, making it an easy add-on to a Hokkaido itinerary that might also include Sapporo. The museum complex covers Taketsuru’s own story in detail, including his years training in Scotland and his marriage to Rita Cowan, giving overseas visitors context that a straightforward production tour would not, alongside the coal-fired stills themselves and the original warehouse buildings. Readers comparing which distilleries are realistic to fit into a Japan trip can browse more options in our distillery guides hub.

    Frequently asked questions

    Q: Why does Yoichi use coal-fired stills?

    A: Masataka Taketsuru installed coal-fired pot stills when he built Yoichi, replicating the direct-fire method he learned at Longmorn distillery in Scotland during his studies there from 1918. The technique has all but vanished even in Scotland, replaced by easier-to-control steam heating, but Nikka has preserved it at Yoichi, where the intense, uneven heat lightly scorches the wash and contributes to the whisky’s toasty, robust character.

    Q: Is Yoichi whisky age-stated?

    A: Mostly no. Nikka discontinued the 10, 12, and 15-year-old Yoichi age statements in 2015 because of a shortage of sufficiently mature stock, replacing them with a permanent no-age-statement Yoichi Single Malt in 2016. An age-stated Yoichi Single Malt 10 Year Old returned in 2022 as an annual limited release, but it is not a permanent fixture of the range in the way the age-stated bottlings once were.

    Q: Can I visit Yoichi distillery as a tourist?

    A: Yes, and it is one of the more visitor-friendly distilleries in Japan. Nikka offers free guided tours that include a complimentary tasting, plus a museum and shop area that need no reservation at all. Tours can fill up as much as two weeks in advance, so booking ahead is worthwhile, and the site is easy to reach near Yoichi Station on Hokkaido’s coast.

    Q: Is Yoichi part of Nikka Whisky?

    A: Yes. Yoichi was founded in 1934 by Masataka Taketsuru and is Nikka Whisky Distilling’s original and founding production site. Nikka later added a second malt distillery, Miyagikyo, and blends from both sites feed products such as Nikka Whisky From The Barrel, but Yoichi remains the company’s historical home and the source of its coal-fired single malt.

    Sources

  • Shizuoka distillery guide: Japan’s craft whisky pioneer

    Shizuoka distillery guide: Japan’s craft whisky pioneer

    Shizuoka is a whisky distillery built in the mountains of Shizuoka Prefecture in 2016 by Taiko Nakamura, founder of the drinks importer Gaiaflow. It is best known among enthusiasts for an unusual pairing of equipment: a pot still salvaged from the closed Karuizawa (軽井沢) distillery and a second still that is one of the very few in the world heated directly by burning firewood. That combination, plus a deliberately small, hands-on production style, has made Shizuoka one of the most talked-about names in the current generation of independent Japanese distilleries, even though its whisky is genuinely hard to find outside Japan.

    Readers checking whether a bottle is the real thing should keep the Japanese whisky labeling standard in mind, since Shizuoka’s small output and cult reputation have made its name a target for confusion with unrelated products.

    History: a whisky importer builds his own distillery

    Before Shizuoka existed as a producer, Gaiaflow was already known in Japan as an importer, bringing in brands such as Blackadder and Amrut. Taiko Nakamura built the distillery on the banks of the Nakakouchi River in the Tamagawa district of Oku-Shizuoka, working with Derek Buston, an American architect based in Shizuoka, on the building itself.

    Construction finished in August 2016. Japan’s whisky distillation license followed a month later, and the distillery produced its first distillate that October. That makes Shizuoka one of the wave of small distilleries, alongside names like Kanosuke and Akkeshi, that opened in Japan from the mid-2010s onward as the country’s whisky boom drew in producers who had previously worked in importing, brewing, or other drinks categories rather than whisky itself.

    What sets Shizuoka apart within that wave is the choice to build a distillery around specific, unusual pieces of equipment rather than around a house style borrowed from an existing producer. Coming from an importing background rather than a shochu or beer-brewing one, as some of Shizuoka’s contemporaries did, Gaiaflow’s team had spent years tasting and selecting whisky from other countries before deciding what its own distillery’s stills should look like, and that history shows up directly in the decision to run a salvaged Karuizawa still alongside a wood-fired still rather than a more conventional, steam-heated pair.

    What Shizuoka makes: two stills, two very different characters

    Shizuoka’s identity is built around its two pot stills, and the distillery names its core whiskies directly after them. Pot Still K takes its name from a still salvaged from the legendary, now-closed Karuizawa distillery, giving Shizuoka a direct physical link to one of the most sought-after ghost distilleries in Japanese whisky history. Pot Still W is the distillery’s wash still, and it is heated by direct wood fire rather than steam or electricity, a method almost no other working distillery in the world still uses.

    Running spirit through two stills with such different heating methods and histories produces two distinct new-make characters, which the distillery keeps largely separate rather than blending together by default. That separation is unusual: most single malt producers standardize around one still design, then rely on cask selection to create variation. Shizuoka instead builds variation into distillation itself, which is part of why its bottlings are treated as a serious reference point among enthusiasts despite the distillery’s small size and short history.

    Core bottles and what they taste like

    Shizuoka’s core range is organized around its stills: ‘K’ bottlings come from the ex-Karuizawa pot still, ‘W’ bottlings come from the wood-fired still, and ‘S’ releases blend spirit from both. Because Shizuoka is still a young distillery, most releases so far have carried edition names, such as “First Edition,” rather than fixed age statements, and recipes have shifted between Japanese-grown and imported barley across different runs.

    The two stills produce noticeably different whisky. Pot Still K tends toward brighter, grain-forward character, with hay and vanilla sweetness alongside more savory notes like popcorn and a faint varnish edge, plus mint and aniseed. Pot Still W runs in a heavier, more estery direction, with nail polish and oil paint aromatics sitting alongside almond, peat, juniper, lemon peel, and fresh garden herbs, with subtle floral notes on top. The two profiles are different enough that trying them side by side is one of the more instructive tastings available from any young Japanese distillery.

    Bottling Still Style Flavor profile
    Shizuoka Pot Still K Ex-Karuizawa pot still Single malt, edition-dated releases Bright, grainy sweetness; hay, vanilla, popcorn, a hint of varnish, mint, and aniseed
    Shizuoka Pot Still W Wood-fired wash still Single malt, edition-dated releases Heavier and estery; nail polish and oil paint notes with almond, peat, juniper, lemon peel, and garden herbs
    Shizuoka Pot Still S Blend of K and W spirit Single malt, edition-dated releases Combines character from both stills rather than favoring either alone

    Can readers outside Japan buy it or visit?

    This is where Shizuoka is genuinely more difficult than most distilleries covered in this series. At the distillery itself, visitors cannot buy the single malt or new-make spirit to take home; the shop’s retail stock does not extend to Shizuoka’s own maturing whisky in the way some other distillery shops sell their core range on site. Outside Japan, supply is thin but not zero: specific editions, including a Pot Still W release made entirely from imported barley, have had a portion of their run, in that case around 2,000 bottles, allocated specifically for international sale. Specialist retailers such as The Whisky Exchange, Hard To Find Whisky in the UK, and outlets including Total Wine, Whisky Shop USA, First Fill Spirits, Dekanta, and Glass Revolution Imports in the US have carried individual Shizuoka editions when allocations become available.

    Because releases are edition-based and allocations are small, availability is inconsistent rather than absent. Readers seriously interested in a bottle should treat any of the retailers above as a starting point for checking current stock rather than assuming a given edition will still be listed by the time they look, and should not expect Shizuoka to behave like a widely distributed brand.

    Visiting is also more involved than at many distilleries. Tours run by reservation only, booked through the distillery’s own website, which is in Japanese, though browser translation tools can get a reader through the booking form. Reservation windows tend to open roughly a month or two ahead of the visit date rather than staying open indefinitely, so readers planning a Japan trip around a Shizuoka visit should book as early as the site allows. A standard visit includes a roughly one-hour formal tour followed by a separate, paid tasting session of about an hour in the shop.

    FAQ

    Q: Why is a still from Karuizawa distillery at Shizuoka?

    A: Karuizawa was a Japanese whisky distillery that closed and was later dismantled, and its remaining bottled stock has since become some of the most sought-after and expensive Japanese whisky on the secondary market. When Shizuoka was being built in 2016, it acquired one of Karuizawa’s original pot stills and put it back into active use, naming its “Pot Still K” range directly after that equipment. It gives Shizuoka a physical link to a distillery whose own whisky can no longer be produced.

    Q: What makes the wood-fired still at Shizuoka unusual?

    A: Most pot stills today are heated by steam coils or direct electric elements because they are easier to control precisely. Shizuoka’s wash still, named Pot Still W, is heated by an open wood fire instead, a traditional method that very few working distilleries anywhere in the world still use. It requires more manual attention during distillation and is one of the clearest examples of Shizuoka choosing a harder, more hands-on production method over a more efficient standard one.

    Q: Can I buy Shizuoka whisky outside Japan?

    A: Sometimes, but supply is limited and inconsistent rather than reliably stocked. Shizuoka releases specific, edition-dated bottlings rather than an always-available core range, and only a portion of each edition’s production is typically allocated for markets outside Japan. Specialist retailers in the UK and US, including The Whisky Exchange and Hard To Find Whisky, have carried individual editions when allocations arrive, so checking current stock directly with a retailer is more reliable than assuming general availability.

    Q: Do I need to book a Shizuoka distillery tour far in advance?

    A: Yes. Tours are reservation-only through the distillery’s Japanese-language website, and booking windows tend to open only a month or two before the visit date rather than staying open on a rolling basis year-round. Readers planning international travel around a visit should build in flexibility, since reservations can fill before a booking window has been open very long, and should expect the tour itself to run roughly an hour, with a separate paid tasting session afterward.

    Sources

    • Tokyo Weekender, “A Visit to the Shizuoka Whisky Distillery” — tokyoweekender.com
    • 88 Bamboo, “Following Your Dreams is Truly Hard Work: We Spoke to Shizuoka Whisky’s Founder Taiko Nakamura” — 88bamboo.co
    • WhiskyNotes, “Shizuoka Pot Still K / Pot Still W” — whiskynotes.be
    • Malt Review, “Shizuoka Prologue K and Prologue W” — malt-review.com
    • Hard To Find Whisky, “Shizuoka 1st Edition Pot Still W 100% Imported Barley” — htfw.com
    • The Whisky Exchange, “Shizuoka Pot Still W 100% Imported Barley – 1st Edition” — thewhiskyexchange.com
    • Kyoto Sake Experience, “6 Japanese Whisky Distilleries to Visit” — kyotosakeexperience.com
  • Mars Shinshu distillery guide: Japan’s highest whisky maker

    Mars Shinshu distillery guide: Japan’s highest whisky maker

    Mars Shinshu, officially the Mars Komagatake Distillery, is a whisky distillery in Nagano Prefecture run by the shochu maker Hombo Shuzo (本坊酒造). Sitting at an elevation of around 798 meters at the foot of Kiso Komagatake in Japan’s Central Alps, it is the highest whisky distillery in the country, and its cold mountain climate and soft, granite-filtered water are central to how the distillery describes its own whisky. Mars Shinshu is also one of the few Japanese distilleries with a genuine gap in its production history: it stopped distilling entirely for nearly two decades before restarting in 2011.

    That restart, and the distillery’s connection to one of the founding figures of Japanese whisky, make Mars Shinshu a useful case study alongside our guide to the Japanese whisky labeling standard, since its stills and methods trace back further than most currently operating distilleries in Japan.

    History: a 1949 license, a false start, and a 2011 restart

    Hombo Shuzo, a shochu producer originally from Kagoshima Prefecture, obtained a whisky-distilling license in 1949 with help from Kiichiro Iwai (岩井喜一郎), an engineer whose still designs, based on records left by Masataka Taketsuru (竹鶴政孝), also influenced Nikka’s Yoichi distillery. Hombo built its Shinshu Distillery in Nagano Prefecture in 1985, moving pot stills that Iwai had designed for an earlier Hombo distillery in Yamanashi to the new mountain site, where they have since been replaced with exact replicas of the originals.

    The distillery’s history was not continuous. Production stopped in 1992 as demand for Japanese whisky slumped through the 1990s and 2000s, a period that closed or paused output at several Japanese distilleries. Mars Shinshu resumed distilling in 2011, as the global reappraisal of Japanese whisky began driving renewed investment across the industry, making it one of a small number of distilleries that can describe their current output as a genuine restart rather than continuous production.

    That gap matters for how readers should think about the brand’s back catalog. Whisky bottled or distilled before 1992 comes from a genuinely different production era than anything released after the 2011 restart, with nearly two decades separating the two. Collectors and reviewers often treat pre-1992 Mars Shinshu releases as a separate, older category from the current Iwai and Komagatake lines, in much the same way that whisky from other paused-and-restarted distilleries tends to be discussed in two distinct chapters rather than as one unbroken lineage.

    What Mars Shinshu makes: high altitude, old still designs

    The distillery’s site was chosen deliberately for its environment: soft water filtered through granite soil, meltwater from the surrounding Alps, and consistently cool, foggy mountain air at nearly 800 meters above sea level. Hombo describes this high-altitude, low-temperature setting as a defining influence on how the spirit matures, distinct from the warmer, lower-altitude conditions most Japanese distilleries operate in.

    Its pot stills carry that history forward physically rather than just in name. Designed by Kiichiro Iwai using Masataka Taketsuru’s own production notes, they closely resemble the straight-head stills used at Nikka’s Yoichi distillery, meaning Mars Shinshu’s still shape traces back to the same technical lineage as one of Japan’s oldest and most established whisky producers, despite Mars Shinshu’s own broken production history.

    The original stills Iwai designed were first installed at an earlier Hombo distillery in Yamanashi Prefecture before being relocated to Nagano when the Shinshu site opened in 1985. They have since been replaced with exact replicas rather than kept in continuous service, which means the equipment working today reproduces Iwai’s original engineering rather than being the literal decades-old metal, a distinction worth noting for readers who assume every detail of a distillery’s founding-era hardware survives unchanged.

    Core bottles and what they taste like

    Mars Shinshu’s range splits into blended and single malt lines. Iwai, sold with a blue label, is the entry-level blend, with a nose of cinnamon and brûléed sugar leading into a palate of Red Delicious apple skin and English breakfast tea. Iwai Tradition sits above it, opening with clove and wildflower honey alongside a hint of earthy peat, moving into nougat and milk chocolate on the palate, with cinnamon rejoining on the finish. Komagatake is the distillery’s single malt line, released in dated annual editions rather than as one fixed, unchanging bottling.

    At the World Whiskies Awards 2025, Mars Komagatake Japanese Barley 8 Years Old won a Bronze award, a specific, dated result rather than a general claim about the brand. Separately, at the 2022 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, the Komagatake 2021 Edition was among the whiskies in contention for Best of Class Japanese Whisky, in the same field as Kanosuke’s 2021 First Edition Single Malt.

    Expression Type Notable result Flavor profile
    Iwai (Blue Label) Blended whisky Entry-level core release Cinnamon and brûléed sugar on the nose; Red Delicious apple skin and English breakfast tea on the palate
    Iwai Tradition Blended whisky Step-up core release Clove, wildflower honey, and a hint of earthy peat; nougat and milk chocolate with cinnamon on the finish
    Komagatake (annual editions) Single malt Japanese Barley 8 Years Old won Bronze, World Whiskies Awards 2025 Varies by edition; profile not fixed across releases

    Can readers outside Japan buy it or visit?

    Mars Shinshu is more accessible abroad than many small Japanese distilleries, largely because Hombo Shuzo has worked with established importers for years rather than relying solely on direct export. In the United States, Skurnik Wines & Spirits and Tokiwa Imports both carry parts of the range, including several Iwai Tradition cask-finish variants, which puts entry-level and mid-tier Mars Shinshu bottlings within reach of readers outside Japan more reliably than is the case for some of the newer, smaller distilleries covered elsewhere on this site. Limited-edition Komagatake releases are harder to find and tend to sell through allocations rather than open retail, so readers chasing a specific annual edition should expect more competition for stock than with the Iwai line.

    Visiting requires planning around geography and season. The distillery sits in a mountain location in Nagano Prefecture, at the foot of Kiso Komagatake, and its visitor building sells distillery-exclusive whisky, Mars wine, Minami-Shinshu beer, and original goods alongside displays of past releases and awards. Because the site is high-altitude and mountainous, tours and visiting hours are seasonal rather than year-round, so readers should confirm current opening dates and hours directly with the distillery before building a trip around a visit, particularly outside the warmer months.

    FAQ

    Q: Why did Mars Shinshu stop making whisky for almost 20 years?

    A: Production halted in 1992 as demand for Japanese whisky fell sharply through the 1990s and into the 2000s, a downturn that affected the wider industry and led several producers to pause or scale back distilling. Hombo Shuzo resumed whisky production at Mars Shinshu in 2011, as renewed international and domestic interest in Japanese whisky made restarting commercially viable again. That gap means older Mars Shinshu stock and post-2011 releases come from genuinely separate production eras rather than one continuous run.

    Q: What is the connection between Mars Shinshu and Nikka’s Yoichi distillery?

    A: Mars Shinshu’s pot stills were designed by Kiichiro Iwai, an engineer who based his still designs on production records left by Masataka Taketsuru, the same person who later founded Nikka and built the Yoichi distillery. As a result, Mars Shinshu’s stills closely resemble the straight-head design used at Yoichi, even though the two distilleries have always been run by separate, unrelated companies with no ownership connection to one another.

    Q: Is Mars Shinshu whisky easy to find in the US or UK?

    A: The entry-level Iwai and Iwai Tradition blends are reasonably accessible through established importers such as Skurnik Wines & Spirits and Tokiwa Imports in the United States, which makes them easier to find than output from some of Japan’s smaller, newer distilleries. The single malt Komagatake line, released in limited annual editions, is considerably harder to source and tends to move through allocation rather than staying on general retail shelves for long.

    Q: What makes Mars Shinshu’s location unusual for a whisky distillery?

    A: At roughly 798 meters above sea level at the foot of Kiso Komagatake in Nagano’s Central Alps, it is the highest whisky distillery in Japan. The site gives the distillery soft water filtered through granite and consistently cool mountain air, conditions Hombo Shuzo says shape how the spirit matures, in contrast with the lower-altitude, warmer environments most Japanese distilleries operate in. The altitude also means visiting hours run on a seasonal schedule rather than year-round.

    Sources

    • HOMBO Official, “Mars Komagatake Distillery: Visiting Experience” — hombo.co.jp
    • HOMBO Official, “Komagatake” — hombo.co.jp
    • Quill & Pad, “Mars Shinshu Japanese Whiskies: High-Altitude Fire And Ice” — quillandpad.com
    • Wikipedia, “Shinshu Mars distillery” — en.wikipedia.org
    • World Whiskies Awards, “Bronze – Mars / Komagatake Japanese Barley 8 Years Old – World Whiskies Awards 2025” — worldwhiskiesawards.com
    • Forbes, “The World’s Best Whiskies: 2022 San Francisco World Spirits Competition” — forbes.com
    • Skurnik Wines & Spirits, “Iwai Tradition – Sherry Cask, Mars Whisky” — skurnik.com
    • Tokiwa Imports, “Mars Shinshu” — tokiwaimports.com
  • Akkeshi distillery: Hokkaido peated whisky guide

    Akkeshi distillery: Hokkaido peated whisky guide

    Akkeshi distillery is a peated single malt producer on Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido, built in a wetland town chosen deliberately because it reminded its founder of Islay, Scotland’s peat-heavy whisky region. Distillation began in 2016, making Akkeshi one of the newest names among Japan’s more established whisky makers, and its wetlands supply the distillery with its own peat. For readers outside Japan, Akkeshi is one of the more approachable new-wave distilleries to track down, though visiting it in person takes real planning.

    What is Akkeshi distillery

    Akkeshi is a single malt whisky distillery in the fishing town of Akkeshi (厚岸), on the eastern coast of Hokkaido. It is owned by Kenten Jitsugyo, a Tokyo-based trading company whose founder, Keiichi Toita, set out to build a Japanese answer to the peated malts of Islay. The distillery draws its process water from the Homakai River and sits close to the sea, conditions Toita judged similar enough to Islay’s maritime climate to support a comparable style of whisky. Readers unfamiliar with how Japan’s whisky rules work can start with our guide to what is Japanese whisky before diving into individual producers.

    A young distillery built for peat

    Akkeshi was founded in 2013 and began distilling in October 2016, which made it the first new whisky distillery to open in Hokkaido in around 80 years. The site was chosen specifically for its surroundings: Akkeshi sits amid extensive wetlands with a peat layer that runs roughly 50 meters deep in places, an unusually rich local source of the fuel that gives peated whisky its smoky character. Rather than importing peat exclusively from Scotland, as most Japanese distilleries do, Akkeshi began harvesting its own peat blocks from the ground near the distillery starting in April 2020, giving it a genuinely local claim to the Islay-style whisky it set out to make.

    The distillery’s first single malt release, Sarorunkamuy, took its name from the Ainu word for the Japanese crane, a bird associated with the wetlands around Akkeshi. It reached the market in February 2020, a little over three years after distillation began, which is a realistic timeline for any new distillery waiting on spirit to mature into something ready for release.

    Kenten Jitsugyo’s own history explains why Akkeshi looked so deliberately toward Scotland. Founded in 1964 to trade in food ingredients and alcoholic beverages, the company came to whisky through its chief executive, Keiichi Toita, who traced his interest back to a single glass of Ardbeg 17 Year Old in a Ginza bar. That experience pushed Kenten Jitsugyo first into exporting Japanese whisky, then into bottling it, and eventually, as aged Japanese stock grew harder to source, into building a distillery of its own. Early flavor experiments began in 2013 with test-aged spirit purchased from two existing Japanese distilleries, laying the groundwork before construction at Akkeshi itself got underway.

    What Akkeshi makes: peat, mizunara and a run of seasonal releases

    Sarorunkamuy blends malt matured in mizunara oak casks with spirit aged in bourbon, sherry, and red wine casks, giving Akkeshi’s flagship a broader cask profile than a typical single-cask Islay malt. Since then, the distillery has built its identity around the 24 Solar Terms series, a run of limited expressions named after the 24 divisions of the traditional East Asian solar calendar, such as Usui and Daikan. Early in its life, Akkeshi also released young spirit under its Foundations New Born series, including a bottling matured in bourbon barrels for eight to 17 months, aimed at showing drinkers how the distillate develops before full maturation.

    The result is a house style that leans into smoke and maritime character while still varying noticeably from release to release, since each solar term bottling can draw on a different combination of casks. That variation is part of the appeal for collectors, but it also means Akkeshi’s range is less consistent from bottle to bottle than a distillery built around one or two permanent expressions.

    The Islay comparison that Akkeshi invites is really about shared inspiration rather than an identical outcome. Both regions share a peat-rich, maritime setting, but Hokkaido’s climate, mizunara cask influence, and Akkeshi’s own locally cut peat give the whisky a character that sits alongside Scottish peated malts without copying any one of them directly. That distinction is part of what has made Akkeshi interesting to reviewers looking for something more than a straightforward Islay imitation.

    Key bottles and flavor profile

    Bottle or series Style Cask influence Notes
    Sarorunkamuy Peated single malt, flagship release Mizunara, bourbon, sherry and red wine casks First single malt release, launched February 2020
    24 Solar Terms series Limited single malt releases Varies by release Named after Usui, Daikan and other solar terms; sought by collectors
    Foundations New Born Young spirit, early series Bourbon barrels, matured 8-17 months Shows the distillate before full maturation

    Across the range, expect smoke and brine to lead, backed by the fruitier notes that come from the varied cask program rather than a single, unchanging house profile.

    For a distillery still in its first decade, Akkeshi has picked up a steady run of international recognition. Hokkaido Akkeshi Whisky Kanro took a category win at the World Whiskies Awards in 2021, Repunkamuy repeated that feat in 2024, and Keichitsu earned a bronze medal the same year. Kokuu reached the global finalist stage at the 2026 World Whiskies Awards, suggesting the distillery’s quality has kept pace even as production has scaled up from its earliest New Born releases.

    Can international readers buy Akkeshi, or visit the distillery

    Akkeshi has built distribution more quickly than many of Japan’s newer distilleries. In the United States, importer Skurnik Wines & Spirits and retailers such as Wooden Cork and High Road Spirits carry Akkeshi expressions, and specialist shops in the UK and EU stock it as well, so overseas buyers have a reasonable chance of finding a current release through normal retail channels rather than relying only on auctions. Older or limited solar term bottlings, however, do turn up on licensed whisky auction sites once they sell out at retail. Because Akkeshi releases new solar term expressions on a rolling basis rather than keeping a single flagship on shelves indefinitely, it is worth checking a retailer’s current catalog rather than searching for one specific bottle name, since last year’s edition may already have been replaced by a newer one.

    Visiting is a different matter. Akkeshi distillery has no public visitor center and does not run its own tours. The only authorized way to see inside is through Akkeshi Gourmet Park “Conchiglie,” a local operator that runs the sole approved tour to the distillery grounds, with reservations required at least three days ahead of a tour date. Visitors can walk into the rackhouse but view the distillation building itself from an outdoor observation deck through glass windows rather than stepping inside, and the tour is typically paired with a New Born tasting sample and a visit to a nearby oyster bar. Akkeshi is remote even by Hokkaido standards, so this is a trip best combined with wider travel plans around eastern Hokkaido. Readers weighing up which distilleries are realistic to visit on a Japan itinerary can compare options in our distillery guides hub.

    Frequently asked questions

    Q: Is Akkeshi whisky peated?

    A: Yes. Akkeshi was built specifically to produce an Islay-style peated single malt, and its location amid Hokkaido wetlands gives it access to a local peat source roughly 50 meters deep in places. The distillery began cutting its own peat blocks in 2020, adding a genuinely local element to a smoky, maritime house style.

    Q: Can visitors tour Akkeshi distillery directly?

    A: Not on their own. Akkeshi has no in-house visitor center or public tour program. The only authorized way to see the site is through a local operator, Akkeshi Gourmet Park “Conchiglie,” which runs the sole approved tour with reservations needed at least three days in advance, including a rackhouse visit and an outdoor view of the distillation building.

    Q: Where can overseas fans buy Akkeshi whisky?

    A: Distribution has expanded quickly for a distillery this young. US drinkers can find Akkeshi through importer Skurnik Wines & Spirits and retailers including Wooden Cork and High Road Spirits, while specialist retailers in the UK and EU also stock current releases. Sold-out limited bottlings, particularly older 24 Solar Terms editions, are more commonly found through licensed whisky auction houses.

    Q: What does the 24 Solar Terms series refer to?

    A: It is a running series of limited single malt releases, each named after one of the 24 divisions of the traditional East Asian solar calendar, such as Usui or Daikan. Because cask combinations vary between releases, the series gives Akkeshi a way to experiment with different maturation profiles while building a following among collectors who track each new edition.

    Sources

  • Kanosuke distillery: Kagoshima’s coastal single malt guide

    Kanosuke distillery: Kagoshima’s coastal single malt guide

    Kanosuke (嘉之助) is a single malt distillery on the coast of Kagoshima Prefecture, built in 2017 by the shochu producer Komasa Jyozo (小正醸造). It is Japan’s only beachfront whisky distillery, and its whisky carries that setting through in the glass: a coastal, slightly briny edge layered over the honeyed, tropical-fruit character its three pot stills are known for. For readers new to Japanese whisky, Kanosuke is one of the clearest examples of the wave of small, independently owned distilleries that opened from the mid-2010s onward, distinct from the older, much larger houses run by Suntory and Nikka.

    The Japanese whisky labeling standard matters here because Kanosuke was built specifically to meet it: the whole process, from mashing to bottling, happens on site in Kagoshima. That distinction is worth keeping in mind when comparing a bottle like Kanosuke Single Malt with older export blends that may not have been distilled in Japan at all.

    History: how a shochu maker built a whisky distillery

    Komasa Jyozo has made shochu in Kagoshima since 1883, when it was founded by Komasa Ichisuke. The company built its reputation on innovation rather than tradition alone: in 1957 it released Mellowed Kozuru, the industry’s first shochu aged in oak casks, a move that put barrel aging at the center of the company’s identity decades before it built a whisky operation.

    That barrel-aging expertise is the direct link to Kanosuke. The distillery, which began production in 2017, is named for Kanosuke Komasa, the company’s second-generation president and the man behind Mellowed Kozuru. Kanosuke is run today by a fourth-generation member of the Komasa family, with the whisky distillery sitting close to the original shochu operation in Hioki, Kagoshima.

    Its location is part of the story. Kanosuke overlooks Fukiagehama, a roughly 47-kilometer stretch of sand often cited as one of the longest beaches in Japan, which is what makes it the country’s only beachfront whisky distillery. For a company that spent well over a century in shochu before entering whisky, the choice of site reads less like a marketing flourish and more like a continuation of the same instinct that produced Mellowed Kozuru in the first place: use the coastal climate as an active part of production rather than treating it as scenery.

    What Kanosuke makes: three pot stills, one coastline

    Kanosuke’s whisky is distilled using three copper pot stills made by Miyake, each with a different neck shape and lyne arm angle. Running three distinct still profiles side by side, rather than just one, gives the distillery more building blocks to work with when it comes to layering and blending its new-make spirit before it ever reaches a cask.

    The cask program leans on the distillery’s shochu heritage as much as on standard whisky casks. Alongside ex-bourbon barrels and ex-sherry butts, Kanosuke matures spirit in casks that previously held Mellowed Kozuru shochu, a direct link back to the barrel-aging techniques Komasa Jyozo pioneered in 1957. This kind of cross-category cask use is one reason distilleries built by shochu and sake producers, rather than by whisky companies alone, have become a distinct strand within Japanese whisky more broadly.

    The three-still setup also changes how the distillery approaches blending at a much earlier stage than usual. Rather than distilling one consistent new-make spirit and relying entirely on cask selection to build complexity later, Kanosuke can vary the character of the spirit itself by choosing which combination of stills a given batch runs through, then decide on cask maturation on top of that. It is a more labor-intensive way to build a flavor profile, but it gives a young distillery more variables to work with while its own stock is still maturing toward older age statements.

    Core bottles and what they taste like

    Kanosuke’s core range settled into three expressions when it launched in the US market in the summer of 2024, following a UK launch that September. The flagship Kanosuke Single Malt is bottled at 48% ABV, non-chill filtered and without added coloring, using spirit from all three pot stills matured across ex-Mellowed Kozuru shochu casks, ex-sherry butts, and ex-bourbon barrels.

    Two other core releases sit alongside it. Kanosuke Hioki is a pot still single grain whisky inspired by Irish pot still whiskey and made using techniques borrowed from shochu production; it carries no age statement but averages more than three years old. Kanosuke Double Distillery blends the Single Malt with the Hioki pot still grain, matured across new American white oak puncheons, bourbon barrels, re-charred shochu barrels, and sherry butts.

    Expression Spirit and stills Cask maturation Flavor profile
    Kanosuke Single Malt All three Miyake pot stills, 48% ABV Ex-Mellowed Kozuru shochu casks, ex-sherry butts, ex-bourbon barrels Honey, banana, tea with lemon and caramel on the nose; honey-quince sweetness, Japanese cinnamon, ginger, and a hint of smoked nuts on the palate
    Kanosuke Hioki Pot still single grain, Irish-inspired New American oak and bourbon barrels Grain-forward and lightly spiced, built to sit alongside the single malt in blends
    Kanosuke Double Distillery Blend of Single Malt and Hioki New American white oak puncheons, bourbon barrels, re-charred shochu barrels, sherry butts Combines the single malt’s fruit and spice with the grain whisky’s lighter body

    At the 2022 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, Kanosuke’s 2021 First Edition Single Malt was among the whiskies in contention for Best of Class Japanese Whisky, alongside Mars Komagatake’s 2021 Edition, a sign of how quickly the young distillery had built a reputation among competition judges.

    Can readers outside Japan buy it or visit?

    Kanosuke is one of the easier new-generation Japanese distilleries to find outside Japan. Its three core expressions reached the US market in the summer of 2024 and the UK that September, and the range now shows up at specialist retailers including The Whisky Exchange. Availability still varies by market and by expression, so checking a specific retailer’s current stock is the safest approach before planning a purchase around any one bottle. For a broader sense of which distilleries currently export and which are still Japan-only, our distillery guides cover the rest of the field.

    Visiting the distillery is straightforward for readers planning a trip to Kyushu. The shop and tasting room are open Tuesday through Sunday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., closed Mondays except public holidays. Tours require a reservation and can include a walk through the maturation warehouse and a guided blending session where visitors mix their own whisky. The standard tour ends at The Mellow Bar, a tasting room with a 10-meter single-slab counter looking out over the East China Sea, a striking way to close out a visit given the distillery’s beachfront setting.

    Kagoshima itself sits at the southern tip of Kyushu, reachable by direct flight from Tokyo or by shinkansen, and pairing a Kanosuke visit with the nearby Komasa Jyozo shochu operation in Hioki gives overseas visitors a fuller picture of how the two businesses connect. Readers planning a Japan itinerary around whisky tourism should treat the reservation requirement as a hard constraint rather than a formality: unlike some of the larger, long-established distilleries that can absorb walk-in visitors, a small operation like Kanosuke has limited daily tour capacity.

    FAQ

    Q: Is Kanosuke owned by a large drinks company?

    A: No. Kanosuke is owned and operated by Komasa Jyozo, an independent shochu producer based in Kagoshima since 1883 and still run by descendants of its founder. That makes it part of the wave of independently owned Japanese whisky distilleries that opened from the mid-2010s onward, distinct from the long-established, much larger operations run by Suntory and Nikka. The distillery is named after Kanosuke Komasa, the company’s second-generation president.

    Q: What makes Kanosuke’s whisky different from other Japanese single malts?

    A: Two things stand out. First, its three pot stills each have a different neck shape and lyne arm angle, giving the distillery several distinct new-make spirit profiles to blend from rather than just one. Second, its cask program uses casks that previously held Mellowed Kozuru, the company’s own oak-aged shochu, alongside more conventional bourbon and sherry casks, tying the whisky directly back to the producer’s shochu-making history.

    Q: Can I buy Kanosuke whisky in the US or UK?

    A: Yes, though supply is still limited compared with long-established brands. Kanosuke’s three core expressions, the Single Malt, Hioki pot still single grain, and Double Distillery blend, launched in the US market in the summer of 2024 and in the UK that September. Specialist whisky retailers including The Whisky Exchange have carried the range since the launches, but stock and specific expressions available will vary by market and by retailer.

    Q: Do I need to book ahead to visit Kanosuke distillery?

    A: Yes, tours require a reservation and are not available on a walk-in basis. The shop and tasting room, open Tuesday through Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and closed Mondays outside public holidays, can generally be visited without a booking. The full tour, which can include the maturation warehouse and a guided blending session, needs to be arranged in advance through the distillery.

    Sources

    • Whisky Magazine, “Kanosuke Distillery: From shochu to single malt” — whiskymag.com
    • Umami Mart, “Kanosuke Distillery (Kagoshima)” — umamimart.com
    • Nomunication, “Kanosuke Distillery” — nomunication.jp
    • Visit Kyushu, “Kanosuke Distillery” — visit-kyushu.com
    • Whisky Advocate, “Japan’s Kanosuke Distillery Launches Its Core Three Whiskies in the U.S.” — whiskyadvocate.com
    • The Spirits Business, “Kanosuke Japanese whisky heads to US” — thespiritsbusiness.com
    • The Luxe Review, “Kanosuke craft Whisky now available in the UK” — theluxereview.com
    • Forbes, “The World’s Best Whiskies: 2022 San Francisco World Spirits Competition” — forbes.com
    • GreatDrams, “Kanosuke Japanese Whisky Range Review” — greatdrams.com
  • Chichibu distillery: history, whisky and how to visit

    Chichibu distillery: history, whisky and how to visit

    Chichibu distillery is a small, independent whisky producer in Saitama Prefecture that has become one of the most talked-about names in Japanese whisky since it opened in 2008. It was founded by Ichiro Akuto, whose family has made sake and shochu in the town of Chichibu (秩父) since the 17th century. The distillery runs on a tiny scale, using imported Scottish pot stills and, unusually, fermentation vessels made from native mizunara oak. Very little of what it makes reaches ordinary retail shelves outside Japan, which is exactly why collectors and casual fans alike keep searching for it.

    What is Chichibu distillery

    Chichibu is a craft-scale single malt distillery owned by Venture Whisky, the company Ichiro Akuto founded in 2004. It sits in the hills of Saitama, about two hours from central Tokyo, and produces whisky under the Ichiro’s Malt brand. Unlike Japan’s older, larger distilleries, Chichibu was built from scratch by one family with no corporate backing, and it has stayed deliberately small ever since. For readers new to the category, our guide to what counts as Japanese whisky explains how distilleries like this one fit into the wider industry.

    From a shuttered family distillery to a global cult name

    Akuto’s family company, Toa Shuzo, had operated the Hanyu distillery in Saitama, but the business was sold off in 2000 and the whisky-making license lapsed. Akuto bought back the remaining casks of Hanyu spirit and founded Venture Whisky in 2004 to bottle and sell them as Ichiro’s Malt. That stock became the foundation of his reputation, most famously through the Card Series, a set of individually labelled Hanyu casks that later became sought-after collector’s items.

    Building a new distillery from nothing was the next step. Construction at Chichibu began in 2007, and the first spirit ran from the stills in February 2008. Chichibu is widely reported to have been the first new whisky distillery license granted in Japan in about 35 years, at a time when Japanese whisky was still a niche category with an uncertain future. Its early success is often credited with helping spark the wave of small, independent distilleries that opened across Japan over the following decade.

    Recognition followed quickly. Ichiro’s Malt & Grain, the brand’s World Blended whisky, has won the World’s Best Blended Limited Release award at the World Whiskies Awards on more than one occasion, and a single cask bottled for the 2017 Chichibu Whisky Matsuri festival took the World’s Best Single Cask Single Malt title that year. Ichiro’s Malt Chichibu The First Ten, released to mark the distillery’s tenth anniversary, won a category award at the 2021 World Whiskies Awards, and Akuto himself was named Blender of the Year at the International Spirits Challenge in 2019.

    Inside the still house: small stills and mizunara washbacks

    Chichibu keeps production deliberately small and hands-on. Grist is mashed in a 2,400-liter mash tun, and staff still cut the grist by hand with a paddle when needed rather than relying only on machinery. Fermentation takes place in eight 3,100-liter washbacks made from mizunara, the native Japanese oak more commonly associated with cask maturation than with fermentation vessels. Wort typically ferments for around 90 hours, considerably longer than the industry norm, and the wood is believed to carry its own resident bacteria that contribute to the fruity, layered character often noted in Chichibu spirit.

    The distillery’s wash and spirit stills were custom made by Forsyths in Scotland, the same firm that supplies stills to many Scotch whisky producers, giving Chichibu a lineage that ties directly back to traditional Scottish distilling equipment despite its Japanese setting. Some batches use barley that Akuto and his team floor-malted themselves in the United Kingdom, a labor-intensive method that very few distilleries anywhere still use, and which forms the basis of the distillery’s Floor Malted releases.

    Saitama’s climate plays its own role once the spirit goes into cask. Chichibu’s dunnage warehouses sit through summers that regularly exceed 30°C and winters that can drop to around -10°C, a far wider swing than most Scottish warehouses experience. Akuto has said that this temperature range speeds up maturation and pushes the angel’s share, the whisky lost to evaporation each year, to roughly 3-5%, noticeably higher than the commonly cited 2% average in Scotland. The warehouses themselves are built from stone and brick with earthen floors and low ceilings holding only three or four tiers of casks, a design intended to keep the interior cooler and more humid than the outside air.

    Key bottles and where the flavor profile lands

    Ichiro’s Malt spans everything from an accessible entry-level blend to intensely allocated single cask releases. The table below covers three widely referenced points in the range, from easiest to find to hardest.

    Bottle Style Cask influence International availability
    Ichiro’s Malt & Grain World Blended whisky, no age statement Blend of malt whisky (including remaining Hanyu-era stock) and grain whisky Widest reach; stocked by many specialist retailers
    Ichiro’s Malt Chichibu The Peated Peated single malt Matured primarily in ex-bourbon barrels Limited annual batches; sells out quickly
    Ichiro’s Malt Chichibu The Floor Malted Single malt from floor-malted barley Small-batch, mixed cask maturation Very limited; mostly secondary market and auction

    Across the range, tasting notes tend to describe Chichibu spirit as bright and fruity, with orchard fruit and honey in the unpeated expressions, and a smokier, more resinous profile in The Peated. The Floor Malted bottlings are prized for a fuller, oilier texture that fans attribute to the traditional malting method.

    Can international readers buy Chichibu, or visit the distillery

    Buying Chichibu from outside Japan is realistic but rarely straightforward. Ichiro’s Malt & Grain is imported by specialist whisky retailers in the US, UK, and EU and is the most reliable bottle to find at a fixed retail price. Single malt Chichibu releases are produced in far smaller volumes, and most are allocated to specific markets or sold through ballots, so demand regularly outstrips supply and prices climb once a batch is gone from shelves. For older or single-cask bottlings, licensed whisky auction houses are usually a more realistic route than everyday retail, though prices there can vary a great deal from one sale to the next. Skurnik Wines & Spirits handles US importing for Venture Whisky, and dedicated Japanese whisky retailers such as Dekanta ship internationally to a wide range of countries, which is useful for anyone outside the small number of markets that receive an official allocation. Because volumes are so small to begin with, it is worth following a retailer’s mailing list or restock alerts rather than expecting to find single malt Chichibu sitting on a shelf.

    Visiting in person is even more restricted. Chichibu is not generally open to public walk-in visitors, and tours are normally reserved for industry contacts, trade visitors, or press by prior arrangement. The distillery does hold one public open day each year, timed the day before the Chichibu Whisky Matsuri festival, when a limited number of tickets are released online and typically sell out within minutes. Readers planning a Japan trip around this event should book accommodation and tickets well in advance and have a backup plan in case the open day sells out. For a wider view of other producers worth tracking, our distillery guides hub covers more of Japan’s whisky-making regions.

    Frequently asked questions

    Q: Is Chichibu whisky available outside Japan?

    A: Yes, but availability varies sharply by bottle. The entry-level Ichiro’s Malt & Grain blend is distributed fairly widely through specialist retailers in North America, Europe, and Australia. Single malt Chichibu releases are produced in much smaller volumes, are often allocated market by market, and typically sell out soon after release, pushing buyers toward secondary market sellers or licensed auction houses.

    Q: Can I visit Chichibu distillery in person?

    A: Public access is limited. Chichibu does not run regular public tours, and most visits are arranged in advance for trade, media, or industry guests. The distillery holds a single annual open day tied to the Chichibu Whisky Matsuri festival, with a capped number of tickets sold online that tend to sell out within minutes, so this is not a spontaneous stop for most travelers.

    Q: What makes Chichibu’s production process distinctive?

    A: Two details stand out: fermentation in mizunara oak washbacks rather than the more common stainless steel or pine, and a willingness to floor-malt some of its own barley by hand. Both are labor-intensive choices that few distilleries anywhere still make, and both are frequently cited as contributors to the fruity, textured character found across the range.

    Q: What exactly is Ichiro’s Malt?

    A: Ichiro’s Malt is the brand name used by Venture Whisky, the company Ichiro Akuto founded in 2004. It began with remaining stock from the closed Hanyu distillery, sold as the well-known Card Series, and has since expanded to include whisky distilled at Chichibu itself, spanning blends, peated single malts, and small-batch floor-malted releases.

    Sources