Japanese whisky has achieved global recognition since 2015 when Suntory’s Yamazaki Single Malt Sherry Cask 2013 won Whisky Bible’s World Whisky of the Year. The industry that produced this result was founded in 1923 by Masataka Taketsuru — a young chemist who spent years studying distilling in Scotland before returning to Japan with a Scottish wife and Scottish knowledge that he applied to Japanese raw materials and aesthetic sensibility. The result is a whisky tradition simultaneously indebted to Scotch and distinctly its own.
The Founding of Japanese Whisky
Masataka Taketsuru studied chemistry at Glasgow University in 1919, apprenticed at Hazelburn and Longmorn distilleries in Scotland, and married Rita Cowan, daughter of a Scottish doctor. Returning to Japan in 1920, he joined Kotobukiya (now Suntory) under founder Shinjiro Torii, who wanted to produce Scotch-style whisky for the Japanese market. The Yamazaki distillery outside Kyoto opened in 1923 in a site Torii chose for its excellent water and mist. In 1934, Taketsuru founded Nikka in Yoichi, Hokkaido — a coastal town with a climate closest to Scotland. Both distilleries have been producing award-winning whisky ever since.
Major Distilleries Open for Visits
Suntory Yamazaki Distillery (Osaka/Kyoto border): Japan’s oldest malt whisky distillery, accessible from Kyoto or Osaka in approximately 20 minutes by JR train. The distillery tour (advance reservation required, fee approximately ¥2,000) covers pot still halls, maturation warehouses and a tasting room. The Yamazaki Single Malt range and limited releases are available in the distillery shop. Advance reservation is essential.
Suntory Hakushu Distillery (Yamanashi): Set in Suntory’s Southern Alps forest campus at 700 metres altitude, Hakushu is the world’s highest-altitude whisky distillery. The forested setting contributes to the lighter, more herbaceous character of Hakushu whisky. Accessible by bus from Kobuchizawa Station (2.5 hours from Shinjuku on the JR Chuo Line).
Nikka Yoichi Distillery (Hokkaido): Taketsuru’s original distillery in a coastal Hokkaido town, using direct coal firing of pot stills — now extremely rare even in Scotland. The distillery complex preserves the original buildings including Taketsuru’s personal residence (open to tour). Accessible from Sapporo by JR Hakodate Line (approximately 45 minutes). Free entry with tasting available.
Nikka Miyagikyo Distillery (Miyagi): Taketsuru’s second distillery, built 1969 in the mountains outside Sendai. Lighter and fruitier than Yoichi, Miyagikyo produces the other half of Nikka’s blended expressions. Accessible from Sendai by bus (approximately 40 minutes).
Japanese Whisky Character and Tasting
Japanese whisky is characterised by precision, balance and subtlety. Water quality, careful still management and long maturation in American white oak, Spanish sherry and Japanese mizunara oak produce complex layered expressions. Mizunara oak (Quercus mongolica) imparts distinctive coconut, sandalwood and spice notes found nowhere else in global whisky. It is notoriously difficult to cooperage and represents one of Japanese whisky’s unique contributions to distilling culture.
Buying Japanese Whisky
Allocation constraints and export demand have made rare Japanese whisky increasingly difficult to find at retail prices. Distillery shops offer the best access to limited releases; airport duty-free shops in Japan sometimes carry allocated bottles unavailable elsewhere. Standard expressions (Yamazaki 12, Hakushu 12, Nikka From the Barrel) are more reliably available than aged single malts. The Whisky Library bar in Shinjuku’s Park Hyatt hotel and specialty whisky bars in Tokyo’s Ginza and Shibuya districts offer by-the-glass access to rare expressions at premium prices, allowing tasting without full bottle purchase.