Suntory
The Yamazaki distillery is the most famous distillery of its owner Suntory, and has established its name as a highly successful producer of Japanese single malt whisky, one of the few Japanese distilleries among its Scottish counterparts. Nevertheless, the Yamazaki distillery is definitely a bold adversary.
In 1984, the Yamazaki 12-year-old was released as the world's very first market-oriented Japanese whisky, making it a true pioneer among Japanese single malt whisky. A highly complimentary factor is the fact that the Yamazaki Single Malt Sherry Cask 2013 was awarded "Best Whisky in the World" by Bill Murray in the Whisky Bible's 11-year history of 2015. With an incredible a score of 97.5 out of 100 points, Yamazaki managed to surpass all its Scottish competitors!
The Yamazaki distillery is located in the town of Shimamoto in Osakan, the southernmost district in mainland Japan. Situated in a misty valley at the foot of Mount Tennozan, where the Katsura, Kizu and Uji rivers converge to form the pure water source called "Minasen", the surrounding area of Yamazaki is a fairytale sight. This location was not a random choice by Shinjiro Torii, the man who became the founder of Suntory in 1899 and founded Yamazaki in 1923 as Japan's first ever commercial distillery. Shinjiro Torii's philosophy on creating the perfect whisky mainly revolved around using the perfect water source and taking advantage of favourable, natural environmental factors. This formula ultimately led to Yamazaki's success.
Osaka's climate is characterised by fluctuating seasonal temperatures such as cold winters and hot, humid summers. With this, the climatic conditions under which the maturation process of Yamazaki Single Malt whisky takes place are very different with respect to whiskies produced in Scotland. The nearby Yamazaki Station in Kyoto serves as the distribution channel for the distillery, and the Minasen River supplies the distillery with fresh water used to produce the whisky. Thanks to these strategically made choices by Shinjiro Torii, Yamazaki Single Malt Whisky has become a Japanese whisky unlike any other.
A noteworthy fact is that the aforementioned Minasen water source had already made its name in Japan's history thanks to its excellence. During the 16th century, Sen no Rikyu, the legendary founder of the Japanese tea ceremony, established his first tea house on the banks of the Minasen. This tea house called "Tai-an" has been preserved as cultural heritage by the Japanese government.
One of the most distinctive features of Yamazaki's production process is the wide variety of equipment, which can be used to produce a wide range of different whiskies. The distillery uses 16 different pot stills, all of which have their own shape. Also, Yamazaki has both wooden and steel washbacks for the fermentation process and the distillery has various casks to mature the whiskies in, such as Mizunara wooden casks. For this reason, Yamazaki offers not only very good quality, but also one of the widest and most diverse ranges of single malt whisky in the world!
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