Japan Whisky Press

Rishiri distillery: Kamui Whisky on Japan’s northern edge

Written by

KEYAKI

in

Rishiri distillery is Japan’s northernmost whisky distillery and the first on any of the country’s outlying islands. It sits on Rishiri (利尻), a volcanic island off the northern tip of Hokkaido, and it is run by Kamui Whisky K.K., a startup founded by Casey Wahl, a Yokohama-based entrepreneur originally from the United States. The distillery began production in October 2022. Its first aged single malt is scheduled for release on December 1, 2026, in a run of roughly 600 bottles for the public.

This guide draws on Japanese reporting from the Hokkaido Shimbun (北海道新聞) and the distillery’s Japanese-language site to answer two questions English coverage tends to skip: will the first release count as Japanese whisky, and what separates this place from island-whisky marketing?

Why an American entrepreneur built a distillery on Rishiri

A bus tour that turned into a business plan

According to the Hokkaido Shimbun’s November 2022 report, the idea started on a holiday. A few years before construction, Wahl and his wife took the bus that loops around Rishiri and were stopped in their tracks by the way the island puts the sea and a mountain in the same frame. “Everything that makes people happy is here,” he told the paper. He kept coming back. Wahl has written in his newsletter that the business plan itself took shape on the two-hour ferry back to Wakkanai (稚内), with his wife drafting a pitch deck before they reached port.

The cool climate and abundant water pulled him toward whisky, and the paper reported that he came to see Rishiri as a northern Islay. He was also taken with the sunsets over Kamui (神居) beach on the island’s west coast, and his stated motivation is not about volume or export markets. He wanted people to come to this spot and take their time over a whisky with someone who matters to them.

A company meant to outlast its founder

In a 2025 retrospective, Wahl wrote that he started Kamui “with the dream of creating a centuries-old company.” That framing explains decisions that look odd for a startup. The team sold private Owner’s Barrels early for cash flow rather than releasing young whisky, pushed the first aged bottling from 2025 to 2026, and closes for roughly three winter months each year rather than fighting the weather. Wahl has lived in Japan since 2000; this is a long bet on one very specific place.

The distillery sits in the Kamui district of Kutsugata (沓形), in Rishiri town. Its black exterior evokes a fisherman’s banya (番屋) work shed, with the sea within earshot and Mount Rishiri (利尻山) behind.

How the island shapes the way Kamui makes whisky

Water filtered through a volcano

Rishiri is a volcanic island the company dates to roughly 900,000 years ago. Its Japanese site explains that rain and snowmelt falling on Mount Rishiri seep through volcanic rock for more than 30 years before emerging as springs around the island. The distillery uses this water for mashing, cooling, and cutting the spirit to bottling strength. On busy days, production manager Daisuke Taura (田浦大輔) told the Hokkaido Shimbun, the site goes through more than 20 tons of water.

The sources describe the water differently. Taura called it soft, with a gentle character; the company’s English site calls its local Reiho spring “rich in minerals.” We found no published hardness figure, so we are not putting a number on it. During construction the team also found a new spring on site, which it plans to blend into future whiskies.

The wind as an ingredient

Wahl’s newsletter makes the wind the center of the brand’s story. Gusts at the distillery regularly exceed 40 km/h and not infrequently pass 80 km/h. Salt crusts the tasting room windows overnight. The company describes itself as the closest whisky distillery to the ocean in Japan, close enough that you could toss a rock into the water from the front door.

Here the claims need careful handling. The whisky contains only malted barley, water, and yeast; no kelp or salt is added. Yet the team reports that visitors often describe a maritime, umami quality, and Japanese drinkers in particular reach for comparisons with konbu (昆布), the kelp Rishiri is famous for. Wahl’s hypotheses include sea air pulled through open doors, malt stacked outside in the salt wind, and the fields south of the distillery where konbu dries every summer. These are the company’s theories, not tested findings. What is verifiable is the decision behind them: a cliff-edge site fully exposed to the Sea of Japan, chosen rather than avoided.

Inside the distillery: stills, barley, and casks

American stills with a long neck

Kamui’s copper pot stills were made by Vendome Copper and Brass Works in Kentucky and arrived on the island on July 4, 2022. The company says they are the first American-made stills used to distill Japanese whisky. Their long necks are unusual in Japan, and the company says the design is meant to give the spirit purity and lightness. We could not confirm still capacity or the number of stills from a primary source, so we are not listing them.

Many Japanese craft distilleries order stills from Forsyths in Scotland or Miyake Industries in Osaka. Kamui’s choice of Kentucky signals a house style aimed at a lighter spirit rather than an oily, heavy one.

Barley from Scotland and Hokkaido

The Hokkaido Shimbun reported that the mash bill blends three barley varieties imported from Scotland with one from Nakashibetsu (中標津), in eastern Hokkaido. About 5% of the malt is peated, enough to give a light smoky edge rather than an Islay-style peat bomb. The share of Hokkaido barley is small but notable, given how little Japanese whisky uses domestic barley at all. If you want context on where Japanese distillers source their smoke, our guide to peated Japanese whisky covers the wider picture.

Ex-bourbon barrels and a dunnage warehouse

Kamui fills roughly 200 liters of new make into ex-bourbon barrels imported from the United States. Taura described starting with bourbon casks as normal practice for a new distillery: “a test of skill,” in his words. The barrels sit in a traditional dunnage-style warehouse, stacked three high, a system Wahl says others called old-fashioned and impractical. By October 2025 the first warehouse was full.

The volumes are small: a projected 6,000 liters in the first season and a target of 8,640 liters for 2023, a year in which Wahl says production stopped twice. In April 2026 he wrote that barrel prices had risen to two and a half times the company’s early orders. For background on why ex-bourbon wood dominates, see the casks Japanese distilleries actually use.

What Kamui sells now and what is coming

Kamui Genshu, the unaged spirit

Until the first aged release, the only bottled product is Kamui Genshu (神居原酒), an unaged spirit bottled at barrel-entry strength, made from 100% malted barley and cut only with Rishiri water. A 200ml bottle carried a suggested retail price of 4,950 yen including tax in early 2024. It went on public sale for the first time on May 1, 2023, through a handful of long-established Japanese liquor retailers, after an initial batch sold out in December 2022. Wahl noted at the time that resale listings had reached many times the retail price.

At the London Spirits Competition 2026, Kamui Genshu scored 93 points and was named Unaged Whisky of the Year; judges called it vegetal and umami-forward. As our guide to reading Japanese whisky awards explains, medals tell you a spirit cleared a panel’s bar, not how it will suit you. Kamui says it will now retire Genshu from international competitions.

The first aged release

The October 2026 newsletter confirms the first aged single malt, branded Whisky from Rishiri, will be released on December 1, 2026. About 600 bottles will go to the public, with paid newsletter subscribers offered up to two bottles first. An earlier newsletter had put the release at about 800 bottles, so the public share appears to be the smaller figure. Wahl has written that the release will retail at 50,000 yen and openly positions it as a luxury bottle.

Product What it is Price How to get it
Kamui Genshu Unaged spirit, barrel-entry strength 4,950 yen (200ml) Select Japanese retailers, distillery
Whisky from Rishiri (first release) Aged single malt, minimum three years 50,000 yen About 600 public bottles from Dec 1, 2026
Owner’s Barrel Private cask, matured on Rishiri Not published Waitlist; 2025/26 season sold out
Mizunara barrel Furusato Nozei tax-return gift 35 million yen donation Rishiri town’s hometown tax program

Will it count as Japanese whisky?

How the first release fits the 2021 standard

Under the 2021 labeling standard from the Japan Spirits and Liqueurs Makers Association, “Japanese whisky” must be fermented, distilled, and aged for at least three years in Japan, using Japanese water, and bottled in Japan. Imported barley is allowed. Kamui distills on Rishiri, ages on Rishiri, and uses island water, and the company describes the first release as aged a minimum of three years. On the company’s own description, it meets the standard. Our full explainer on what counts as Japanese whisky walks through each requirement.

Kamui Genshu is a different matter. Because it has not spent three years in wood, it cannot carry the “Japanese whisky” designation under the industry standard. The company sells it as genshu (原酒), meaning new or undiluted spirit, and enters it in unaged categories. That is an honest label, and it is the opposite of the vague “Japanese” branding on some young or imported blends that our guide to World Blended Whisky labels explains.

Why the wait matters to buyers

Kamui chose to wait, selling Owner’s Barrels and clearly labeled new spirit instead of vaguely labeled young whisky. That restraint is the most concrete sign that the “centuries-old company” talk is more than a slogan.

Where to buy Rishiri whisky

In Japan

Kamui Genshu has been stocked by a small number of long-established Japanese liquor retailers and the distillery’s own tasting room. The first aged release will be sold, in the company’s words, in “very few places.” If you are traveling, the distillery itself is the most reliable source, and our guide to buying Japanese whisky in Tokyo covers the wider shop landscape.

In the US, UK, and EU

We found no confirmed retailer in the US, UK, or EU stocking either Kamui Genshu or the first aged release as of October 2026, and we are not going to point you to one we cannot verify. With only about 600 public bottles, export allocations, if any, will be tiny. If bottles appear abroad, expect them first through specialist importers of Japanese craft whisky and through secondary markets. If you go the auction route, read our auction buying guide before bidding on a bottle this scarce.

Visiting Rishiri distillery

Getting there

Getting to Rishiri is part of the story. The Hokkaido Shimbun describes the route as a one hour 40 minute ferry from Wakkanai to Oshidomari (鴛泊) terminal, then a 20-minute drive to the distillery. Flights also serve the island, though Wahl warns they may turn back in bad weather, especially in the shoulder seasons and winter. Kamui offers tours and tastings and has held a Rishiri Distillery Festival on site.

Timing your trip

Plan for the warmer months; the distillery shuts for roughly three winter months and reopens in March. Wahl’s tip for renters: choose a car with sliding doors, because the wind can fling a standard door into the next car.

What the place means for the bottle

Wahl’s October 2026 newsletter is candid about the brand’s central problem. Visitors who reach the tasting room after an uncertain crossing are primed to love what is in the glass; a bottle opened in London or Chicago carries none of that. For a buyer, the honest takeaway is that you are paying for a tiny, exposed, deliberately slow operation whose unaged spirit has already won without any cask to hide behind. Whether the aged whisky matches that promise, nobody outside the company will know until December.

For context on Hokkaido’s other coastal malt, see our Akkeshi distillery guide; for the full map, see every whisky distillery in Japan.

FAQ

Q: Is Rishiri distillery really the northernmost in Japan?

A: Yes. Rishiri lies off the northern tip of Hokkaido, beyond Wakkanai, and both the company and the Hokkaido Shimbun describe it as Japan’s northernmost whisky distillery. The newspaper also notes it is the first whisky distillery on any of Japan’s outlying islands.

Q: When is the first Rishiri single malt released and how much will it cost?

A: Kamui Whisky says its first aged single malt, branded Whisky from Rishiri, will be released on December 1, 2026. About 600 bottles will go to the public, with paid newsletter subscribers offered bottles first. The founder has written that it will retail at 50,000 yen, positioning it as a luxury release rather than an everyday bottle.

Q: Is Kamui Genshu a Japanese whisky?

A: Not under the industry standard, which requires three years of aging. Kamui Genshu is unaged malt spirit bottled at barrel-entry strength, made from 100% malted barley and Rishiri water. It is sold as genshu, meaning new or undiluted spirit, and it competes in unaged categories, where it was named Unaged Whisky of the Year at the London Spirits Competition 2026.

Q: Can I buy Kamui whisky outside Japan?

A: As of October 2026 we could not confirm any retailer in the US, UK, or EU selling Kamui Genshu or the first aged release. With so few bottles, the realistic options are buying in Japan, including at the distillery, or waiting for specialist importers or the secondary market. Check auction listings carefully, since scarcity attracts inflated prices.

Sources

More posts