Takazo distillery (高藏蒸留所) is the whisky arm of Meiri Shurui (明利酒類), a sake, plum wine and spirits maker in Mito (水戸), Ibaraki Prefecture. It restarted whisky production in 2022, roughly 60 years after a fire ended the company’s first attempt, and released its first Japanese single malt, Takazo the First, on October 16, 2026. What makes it worth knowing is not the comeback story alone. It is a yeast company making whisky, and it says so openly.
This guide is built from the distillery’s own Japanese-language pages and press releases. We have not tasted the whisky, so this is not a tasting review. It covers what the maker says it is trying to do, why, and what that means if you are deciding whether to hunt a bottle down.
A whisky licence lost in 1959 and taken back in 2022
Meiri’s roots go back to the Ansei era of the late Edo period. According to the company history, the first Takazo Kato (加藤高藏) came to Mito from Niigata as a sake brewer and founded Kato Shuzo, the brewery that became Meiri Shurui in 1950. The family’s own telling, on the distillery site, is that the founder wandered the country looking for the best water for brewing and settled on the old Mito domain because of it.
Mitoka Whisky and the fire
In 1952, two years after incorporation, Meiri’s founder and a group of craftsmen started a whisky business. The distillery’s timeline says the product was called Mitoka Whisky (ミトカウイスキー), made “with the aim of reaching the world from Mito.” In 1954 the company built an Allospas (アロスパス) continuous still to make neutral alcohol. That still, Meiri says, is the origin of all its later distilling work.
Then, in 1959, a fire destroyed the plant. The company returned its whisky licence at the same time, and no whisky was made for more than 60 years. One small inconsistency is worth flagging. The distillery’s own narrative text says the fire came “ten years later,” while its dated timeline gives 1959. We follow the dated timeline here.
Why the name matters
When Meiri took a whisky licence again in 2022, it named the new operation after the founder: Takazo. Kato (加藤喬大), the managing director who signs the distillery’s statement, frames the project as inheriting “the ambitions of the founding era.” The theme the distillery chose for its first years is a single word, REBORN. That is also the name of its early pure malt range.
The statement also says the plan is to “boldly” add new knowledge. The decades without whisky turn out to be the most important part of the story.
Sixty years of yeast: what Meiri did while it was not making whisky
Ask most new Japanese distilleries what they inherited from a previous business and the answer is a building, a water source, or a shochu still. Meiri’s answer is yeast. This is the single fact that separates Takazo from almost every other craft distillery in Japan.
Ogawa yeast, Kyokai No. 10 and M310
In the sake world, Meiri is famous for one thing. Its researcher Ogawa (小川知可良) developed a sake yeast known as Meiri Ogawa yeast, which produces little acid and good aromatic compounds. In 1977, at the request of the Brewing Society of Japan, it was registered as Kyokai No. 10 (協会10号), one of the standard yeasts distributed to sake brewers nationwide.
In 1995 Meiri put M310 into use, a ginjo yeast selected from the Kyokai No. 10 line. The distillery site calls it the “gold medal yeast” and says the Ogawa and M310 strains are now used by around 240 sake breweries across Japan. When the company says it “kept refining fermentation” during its whisky-free decades, this is what it means.
T310: a whisky yeast of its own
Takazo’s stated aim is a fruity whisky, and it treats fermentation as the main lever. In 2023 the company says it developed a yeast that carries traits of both whisky yeast and ale yeast. In January 2026 it began making new make with T310, named for its developer Terakado (寺門) and the T of Takazo. The number deliberately echoes M310.
The distillery also describes how it ferments. It uses three times the yeast quantity it started with and roughly twice the fermentation time, to drive a vigorous fermentation. It does not publish the base figures, so we cannot tell you the absolute hours or pitch rate. The direction is clear, however: longer, heavier fermentation in service of fruit-led new make.
| Yeast | Year | Made for | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meiri Ogawa yeast | Registered 1977 as Kyokai No. 10 | Sake | Low acid, aromatic; became a national standard yeast |
| M310 | In use from 1995 | Ginjo sake | Selected from No. 10; Meiri calls it its gold medal yeast |
| T310 | In use from January 2026 | Whisky | First in-house whisky yeast, built for fruity new make |
If you want context on how sake yeast is turning up elsewhere in Japanese whisky, our report on Tetsu’s sake-yeast releases covers a different maker taking a similar route.
The plum wine cask: a signature only a plum wine house could have
Takazo uses bourbon, sherry, rum, port and mizunara casks. Its own pages, however, single out one more: the plum wine cask, a barrel that previously aged Meiri’s Hyakunen Umeshu (百年梅酒).
Where the cask comes from
Mito is a plum town. Meiri sits close to Kairakuen (偕楽園), one of Japan’s best-known plum gardens, and says it has made plum wine for more than 70 years. Hyakunen Umeshu launched in 1998. In 2008 it was named the top plum wine out of 124 entries at the Tenma Tenjin Umeshu Taikai in Osaka. Meiri later developed a whisky-barrel-aged version of the same plum wine, and the distillery timeline says that idea led directly to the plum wine cask.
In other words, the cask is not bought in to chase a trend. It is a by-product of the company’s best-known product, and no other distillery has that exact barrel.
How the distillery uses it
In 2023 Takazo fixed its maturation policy around five cask types, with the plum wine cask as the distinctive one. The aim, in its own words, is “a fruity whisky that only Japan could make.” For the First, the plum wine cask is the key component, vatted with bourbon and Pineau des Charentes casks. The maker describes the intended profile as plum-wine fruit at the core with vanilla depth around it. That is the distillery’s description, not ours.
Mizunara is in the mix too, including a first-fill mizunara finish in the REBORN range. If you want to know why that wood is so prized and so troublesome, see our explainer on mizunara oak.
Mito’s water, climate and the local barley plan
Takazo ferments, distills and matures everything on Meiri’s own site in Mito. The distillery ties three choices to that location.
Water and weather
The company describes Mito as a “city of water,” framed by the Naka River (那珂川) and Lake Senba (千波湖). It draws magnesium-rich groundwater from its own well every day, the same water it uses for sake. Mito summers are hot and its winters cold, and the distillery points to that swing as part of how its spirit matures. It does not publish warehouse temperature data, so we leave the effect at that.
Small batches by design
Production started in 2022 at a mash size of 400kg of malt, a scale the distillery calls craft-sized and hands-on. Meiri has not published still sizes, still count or annual output on the pages we read, and we have not filled those gaps with guesses.
The Local Valley plan
The third choice is barley. Takazo has begun using peated malt made from Ibaraki-grown Mikamo Golden barley, malted by Sato Malting (サトーモルティング), a new Ibaraki floor maltings Meiri helped get started. The distillery calls this its Local Valley plan (ローカルバレー構想): whisky from raw materials gathered close to the distillery, with a separate local series planned later. Very little Japanese whisky uses Japanese barley at all, for reasons we cover in why so little Japanese whisky uses Japanese barley.
Ibaraki is becoming a small whisky cluster as well. Kiuchi Shuzo already runs Nukada distillery in the same prefecture, and is part of a new seaside distillery in Oarai due in 2027.
The releases so far: from New Born to Takazo the First
Takazo has moved through the usual craft-distillery sequence: young spirit first, blended products next, single malt once the stock is old enough.
What has been released
In 2024 the distillery released its first Takazo New Born, along with two REBORN pure malts finished in plum wine and mizunara casks. A one-year-old New Born won gold at the Tokyo Whisky & Spirits Competition (TWSC) 2025. Takazo Aged 2 Years Bourbon Barrel then took silver in the Young Spirit category at the World Whisky Awards 2026, its first entry there. The distillery also reports that all three products it entered at TWSC 2026 won gold. Before giving these medals too much weight, read our guide to reading Japanese whisky awards.
| Release | Type and casks | ABV | Size and run |
|---|---|---|---|
| Takazo the First | Single malt, 3 years; plum wine, bourbon, Pineau des Charentes | 48% | 700ml, 5,800 bottles |
| Takazo the First Cask Strength | Same vatting, no water added | 61% | 700ml, 500 bottles |
| REBORN Plum Wine Cask Finish | Pure malt with plum wine cask component | 46% | 700ml and 200ml |
| REBORN Mizunara Cask Finish | Pure malt, first-fill mizunara finish | 46% | 700ml and 200ml |
Single malt versus pure malt
Pay attention to the wording on these labels. Meiri describes Takazo the First as its first Japanese single malt, made only from malt fermented, distilled and matured at Takazo since 2022. The REBORN bottles are labeled pure malt, a term for blended malt, and the distillery’s pages do not break down their components. If origin matters to you, the First is the bottle that answers that question on the label. Our guide to what counts as Japanese whisky explains why the distinction exists.
The First launched at ¥12,100 including tax, about $80 at ¥150 to the dollar. The cask strength version costs ¥16,500, about $110. For a three-year-old craft single malt in Japan, that sits in the normal range. The run is small, and the cask strength edition is tiny. The distillery suggests adding water with a dropper to the cask strength bottle and notes that, at three years, it still has some young-spirit heat.
For the launch announcement itself, see our news report on Takazo’s first single malt.
Where to buy Takazo whisky
This is the hard part. As of late October 2026, Takazo is a domestic brand.
In Japan
Meiri sells through its official online shop and at Bessyunkan (別春館), its plum wine and sake museum shop in Mito. The First went on sale at both on October 16, 2026, with limited direct allocations. Japanese specialist liquor shops are the other route if the direct allocation sells out.
US, UK and EU
We found no confirmed importer or retailer for Takazo in the US, UK or EU at the time of writing.
Ordering from Japanese shops is also difficult. Many forwarders will not ship spirits to the US at all, and the rules differ by country. Our guide to importing Japanese whisky from Japan sets out what actually works. In the US and UK, specialist auction and rare-bottle shops are the likeliest place for an early bottle to appear. Expect a markup over the ¥12,100 launch price.
What this means if you are choosing a bottle
Takazo will not suit drinkers looking for an old, proven distillery character. Its whisky is three years old, its range is still forming, and its own description of the cask strength edition admits some youthful heat.
What it does offer is a clear, checkable idea. A sake-yeast company is putting its main skill, fermentation, at the center of whisky-making. It is pairing that with a cask that exists only because the same company makes an award-winning plum wine. The T310 yeast went into use only in January 2026, so the First predates it. The whisky that shows what Takazo is really built for will come later. Buying the First now means buying the starting point of that experiment, with the source of each choice documented by the maker. For the full regional picture, see our list of Japanese whisky distilleries.
Frequently asked questions
Q: Where is Takazo distillery?
A: Takazo is on the Meiri Shurui site in Motoyoshida, Mito, in Ibaraki Prefecture, northeast of Tokyo. Fermentation, distillation and maturation all take place there. The company’s Bessyunkan museum shop is in Mito and sells its products, including whisky when stock allows.
Q: Is Takazo the First a single malt Japanese whisky?
A: Yes, according to Meiri Shurui. The company describes it as the distillery’s first Japanese single malt, made only from malt fermented, distilled and matured at Takazo since 2022, and aged three years. The earlier REBORN releases are labeled pure malt, which is a different category.
Q: What is a plum wine cask?
A: It is a barrel that previously held Meiri’s Hyakunen Umeshu, a plum liqueur the company has made since 1998. Whisky aged or finished in it picks up character from the plum wine soaked into the wood. Takazo uses it as the key cask in Takazo the First.
Q: Can I buy Takazo whisky outside Japan?
A: Not easily, as of October 2026. We found no confirmed US, UK or EU importer. Bottles are sold through Meiri’s official online shop and its Mito shop. If that changes, specialist importers in your country are the place to watch.
Sources
- Takazo Distillery official site, “THE HISTORY TO REBORN” and product pages (Japanese) — https://takazo.meirishurui.com/
- Meiri Shurui, company profile and history (Japanese) — https://meirishurui.com/about/
- Meiri Shurui press release via PR TIMES, “Takazo distillery wins silver at WWA2026” (Japanese) — https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000072.000025633.html