カテゴリ: Archive
Karuizawa Distillery (Closed)
Karuizawa distillery used to be owned by Mercian Corporation. They used only Golden Promise barley and sherry casks to make their whisky, with wooden wash backs and water from Mt. Asama, a still-active volcano. The spirit was distilled with 4 small pot stills, then matured in ivy-covered warehouses. Distilling ceased in 2000 and the distillery [...]
Miyagikyo Distillery
The founder of Nikka Whisky, Masataka Taketsuru, believed that “It’s preferable to blend whiskies from several different climates” and therefore sought to open his second distillery to complement the company’s Yoichi Distillery in Hokkaido. As a result, the Miyagikyo Distillery, originally known as “Sendai Distillery”, was opened in 1969.
Hombo Mars Distillery
In 1985, Hombo Brewing (“Hombo Shuzo”), a Japanese “shochu” maker from Kagoshima Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, founded the Shinshu Distillery in Miyata village in Nagano Prefecture as a base for the production of whisky and brandy. Production was sold under the brand name of Mars Whisky.
Hanyu Distillery (Closed)
Hanyu distillery was owned by Toa-Shuzo in Saitama prefecture, north of Tokyo. It stopped distilling in 2000, and their stock was handed over to Ichiro Akuto, the grandson of the founder, who established a new company called Venture Whisky. The last remaining stocks of Hanyu whisky can sometimes be found in the market today, sold under the “Ichiro’s Malt” [...]
Fuji Gotemba Distillery
In 1972, “Kirin Seagram Ltd.,” was born as collaboration between Kirin Brewery Company Limited, Joseph E Seagram and Sons, Inc., (at that time,U.S.A.) and Chivas Brothers (U.K.).
Yamazaki Distillery
Yamazaki was Japan’s first malt whisky distillery, established in 1923 by Shinjiro Torii, the founder of Suntory and one of the fathers of Japanese Whisky, on a site chosen for the quality of its water source and its suitability for cask maturation.
Closed Distilleries
Although there were once more distilleries than today in Japan, they didn’t all have such glorious histories; some of them closed, some of them stop distilling, and some of them were completely demolished. Some products are occasionally still available today, however, they’re not easy to find.
羽生蒸溜所（閉鎖）
埼玉県羽生市の東亜酒造が所有していた蒸溜所。2000年を最後に蒸溜を停止し、熟成中の樽はベンチャーウイスキーの肥土伊知郎氏に引き継がれた。羽生蒸溜所の原酒は、引き継がれた肥土氏によって『イチローズモルト』というブランド名を与えられ、限定品ながらも辛うじて入手できる閉鎖蒸溜所原酒のひとつとなった。
軽井沢蒸溜所（閉鎖）
かつてメルシャンが所有していたモルトウイスキーの蒸溜所。ゴールデンプロミス種麦芽とシェリー樽熟成にこだわり、浅間山水系の水を用いて木桶で発酵。４基の比較的小さいポットスチルで丁寧に蒸溜され、蔦で覆われる貯蔵庫でゆっくりと熟成される。
