Kirishima Yokogawa Distillery (霧島横川蒸留所) in Kagoshima Prefecture will release its first single malt whisky, Kirishima 531 (霧島 531), through its own online shop on August 30, 2026. The bottle is the debut spirit from a shochu producer that has made shochu for more than 75 years and only began distilling whisky in 2023.
The distillery is run by At Star Co., Ltd. (アットスター株式会社), and the “531” in the name refers to May 31, 2023, the date the company’s whisky manufacturing license finally came through after more than two years of applications. Kirishima 531 is bottled at 53.1% ABV in 700ml bottles, priced at 13,500 yen, and matured in a mix of mizunara, sherry, and red wine casks. At Star says the number is meant to preserve “the determination not to forget” the passion and support that carried the project through its early, uncertain years.
At Star has described its move into whisky as a response to Japan’s long decline in domestic shochu consumption, saying it wants to use decades of distilling experience to make Kagoshima a name associated with whisky as well as shochu. The company converted existing shochu equipment and used crowdfunding to help cover roughly 500 million yen in equipment costs, and spent more than two years documenting production procedures and passing inspections before the license was granted. Whisky is now matured at two sites with different climates: the inland, higher-elevation Yokogawa plant and a coastal warehouse at Kokubu Shikine that gets sea breeze, a deliberate strategy to build a range of maturation character within one brand.
Why this matters beyond Japan
Kirishima Yokogawa is one of a growing number of Japanese shochu and sake breweries repurposing their stills and know-how for whisky as shochu sales soften at home, a trend also visible in Kagoshima at Kanosuke (嘉之助), built by another local shochu maker. For international readers, the appeal is less about this one limited bottle — Kirishima 531 is sold only through the distillery’s Japanese-language shop, with no international shipping confirmed — and more about the pattern behind it: legacy shochu producers becoming a durable new source of single malt entrants, adding to Kagoshima’s profile among whisky travelers already drawn to Kanosuke’s distillery tours.
Source: PR TIMES (At Star Co., Ltd.) (Japanese)
Source: PR TIMES Story (Japanese)
Source: Gourmet Press (Japanese)