A small distillery fed by Mount Fuji’s groundwater is betting that bourbon, not Scotch, is the next frontier for Japanese craft distilling. On October 2, 2026, Tokyo drinks brand CRAFT WONDER released “WHISKEY WONDER Limited Edition 001,” three single-barrel, bourbon-style whiskies distilled and aged by Whiskey&Co. at its Distillery Water Dragon in Mishima (三島), Shizuoka Prefecture. Each barrel was bottled separately and without blending, so the release is explicitly designed to be tasted side by side. It is one of the clearest attempts yet to sell Japanese bourbon-style spirit as a premium product in its own right.
The three barrels, numbered 99, 100 and 103, were filled with the same new-make spirit on the same day, in identically specified new American white oak casks with a heavy No. 4 “alligator” char, and aged for two years in the same warehouse. CRAFT WONDER president Hiroaki Nakagawa (中川裕章) says the company tasted eight barrels at the distillery and picked these three for their individuality and polish. The mash is corn grits made in Japan, rye and malt, and the whisky is bottled at 50.5% ABV, or 101 proof, a figure the brand chose as one step above the 100-proof benchmark set by America’s Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897.
Prices, bottle counts and where it is sold
Each barrel is available as a 700ml bottle priced at 19,800 yen including tax, limited to 209 bottles per barrel. A “BARREL COLLECTION” set of three 200ml bottles, one from each cask, costs 20,900 yen and is limited to 355 sets. Every bottle carries a hand-written serial number, and CRAFT WONDER says there will be no further production of this edition.
Sales are through a CRAFT WONDER pop-up shop on the Galleria B1 floor of Tokyo Midtown in Roppongi (六本木), open from October 2 to October 29, the brand’s official online store, and department-store private sales. The pop-up overlaps with Tokyo Midtown’s DESIGN LIVE 2026 event, for which CRAFT WONDER is supplying official drinks on October 24 and 25. Before launch, the company held an invitation-only tasting called “THE DARK DROP” at a members’ bar in Ebisu (恵比寿) on September 25 and 26, where it says orders and reservations from trade buyers and other guests passed 1 million yen over two days.
The brand’s own tasting notes describe barrel 99 as dense and fruit-driven, barrel 100 as the spiciest and most structured, and barrel 103 as the softest, with caramel and vanilla. We have not tasted them. CRAFT WONDER also argues that Mishima’s soft Fuji groundwater, used both for mashing and for reducing the spirit before bottling, gives a smoother texture than the hard limestone water associated with Kentucky.
Why this matters
Whiskey&Co. was founded in January 2021 and opened Distillery Water Dragon in 2023 with a narrow focus: American bourbon-style whiskey, spelled with an “e” on purpose. Its president, Shohei Omori (大森章平), says the company has specialized in the style and adopted its signature spelling. Its local brand, “Little K,” is sold only in the Mishima area, yet it has already collected a Master medal at The World Whisky Masters 2025 and, for “Little K 2025 2nd,” a top gold in the new-born spirits category at the Tokyo Whisky & Spirits Competition 2026. For a distillery barely three years old, that is a fast start, and some of its whiskey is already poured at high-end Tokyo venues such as The Tokyo EDITION hotel.
The style choice is strategic. Most of Japan’s new distilleries copy the Scottish model of malted barley, pot stills and long maturation, which means waiting years before releasing anything substantial. Bourbon-style spirit, aged in new charred oak, takes on color and flavor much faster, especially in a climate with hot summers like Shizuoka’s. That lets a young producer sell mature-tasting whisky sooner. Mount Fuji’s foothills also have history here: Kirin’s Fuji Gotemba distillery, a short drive away, was founded in 1973 as a joint venture with Seagram and has long drawn on North American techniques for its grain whisky, which we covered recently with its first 12-year single grain.
There is a labeling point worth understanding too. Under the voluntary standard set by the Japan Spirits & Liqueurs Makers Association in 2021, the term “Japanese whisky” requires at least three years of maturation in Japan, among other conditions. At two years, this release falls outside that definition, and its product sheet describes it as a Japanese “bourbon whiskey” style rather than as Japanese whisky. It cannot be called bourbon either, since US rules reserve that name for whiskey made in the United States. Our explainer on what counts as Japanese whisky covers the standard in detail, and Japanese whisky vs. bourbon explains how the two traditions differ.
For readers outside Japan
The announcement lists only Japanese sales channels, and there is no mention of export. With 627 full-size bottles across the three barrels, it is unlikely this edition will reach shelves in the US, UK, Canada or Australia through official importers. Visitors to Tokyo before October 29 can find the pop-up in Tokyo Midtown, where some CRAFT WONDER products are also poured by the glass. The 200ml three-bottle set is the more practical souvenir: it lets you compare all three barrels and fits more easily in a suitcase. If you plan to carry bottles home, check your country’s allowance first; our guide to bringing whisky home from Japan has the details.
If you cannot get to Tokyo, the closest widely exported Japanese reference point for corn-based, sweeter grain whisky is Nikka Coffey Grain, which is made mostly from corn in column stills. It is a different process from Water Dragon’s bourbon-style approach, but it shows how Japanese producers handle grain. For more on the category, see our guide to Japanese grain whisky, and for other producers in the same prefecture, our Shizuoka distillery guide.
Source: PR TIMES / CRAFT WONDER (Japanese)