Yamazaki, near Kyoto, was Japan's first malt whisky distillery, begun in October 1923 by Suntory founder Shinjiro Torii.1,2,3 It made its first spirit on 11 November 1924, with Masataka Taketsuru as factory director.1,3,4 Until the 1980s its whisky was bottled as Suntory blends, such as Kakubin and Suntory Old.5,6 Today it runs 8 wash stills, for the first distillation, and 8 spirit stills, for the second.1,7,8
Delicate and refined, it combines green tea, apple and pear compote, vanilla, and fresh citrus, with lively menthol and resinous wood.
Unique peated Japanese whisky. Silky mouthfeel, smoky nutty, raisin, bittersweet cocoa
Lychee and honey.
In June 1923 Torii's firm Kotobukiya hired Masataka Taketsuru, who had studied whisky making in Scotland from 1918 to 1920.1,7 Taketsuru wanted Hokkaido, which resembled Scotland, but Torii wanted to be near customers and his Osaka head office, so they chose Yamazaki on the Osaka–Kyoto border.1,2,3 It began with 2 pot stills shaped like those at Longmorn, malting Japanese barley with British peat in the same way as traditional Scotch whisky.1,3,4 In 1931 Kotobukiya ran out of money, and production stopped.7 It restarted in 1932, after the firm sold the rights to its Smoca toothpaste to raise funds.7 In March 1934 Taketsuru left Kotobukiya and founded the firm later called Nikka.1,7
During the Pacific War, which began in 1941, the military named Yamazaki one of its suppliers, so it kept making whisky.7 It became the first to age whisky in Japanese Mizunara oak when imported wood ran short, and it escaped the air raids of 1945.7
The first pot still was retired in 1958 and now stands on the site as a monument.7,9 That year the distillery grew to 4 pot stills.7,9,10 In 1961 Torii's son Keizo Saji became Suntory's second president and Yamazaki's second master blender, the role with the final say on taste.2,5,6 In 1963, during a whisky boom, it grew to 8 pot stills, with 8 times its earlier capacity.7 Kotobukiya changed its name to Suntory in 1963.11 In 1968 a small pilot distillery was set up inside the plant to test mashing, fermentation, distillation and new materials.
Workers malted barley by hand on the floor until 1969, and machines did the job until 1972.7,9,10 After that, the distillery bought its malt from maltsters in Britain.7,9,10
From 1987 to 1989 about two-thirds of the plant was renewed, adding its first wooden washbacks and direct-fired stills.6,7,10 It also gained stills of several designs and better yeast, so it could make many styles of malt whisky.6
Every bottle in Peated with a vintage year.
| Year distilled | Bottles |
|---|---|
| 1960 | 2 |
| 1979 | 6 |
| 1980 | 5 |
| 1982 | 1 |
| 1983 | 4 |
| 1984 | 19 |
| 1985 | 2 |
| 1986 | 13 |
| 1989 | 15 |
| 1990 | 16 |
| 1991 | 28 |
| 1992 | 28 |
| 1993 | 49 |
| 1994 | 41 |
| 1995 | 30 |
| 1996 | 32 |
| 1997 | 29 |
| 1998 | 35 |
| 1999 | 40 |
| 2000 | 25 |
| 2001 | 4 |
| 2003 | 6 |
| 2005 | 1 |
| 2008 | 1 |
| 2009 | 4 |
| 2010 | 1 |
| 2013 | 1 |
Bottles in Peated distilled at Yamazaki, by release year.
| Year distilled | Bottles |
|---|---|
| 1937 | 1 |
| 1983 | 1 |
| 1984 | 2 |
| 1989 | 2 |
| 1990 | 1 |
| 1992 | 1 |
| 1994 | 1 |
| 1995 | 1 |
| 1997 | 2 |
| 1998 | 2 |
| 1999 | 2 |
| 2000 | 2 |
| 2002 | 6 |
| 2003 | 18 |
| 2004 | 11 |
| 2005 | 20 |
| 2006 | 12 |
| 2007 | 12 |
| 2008 | 15 |
| 2009 | 10 |
| 2010 | 6 |
| 2011 | 7 |
| 2012 | 10 |
| 2013 | 11 |
| 2014 | 7 |
| 2015 | 3 |
| 2016 | 6 |
| 2017 | 2 |
| 2018 | 8 |
| 2019 | 4 |
| 2020 | 6 |
| 2021 | 7 |
| 2022 | 8 |
| 2023 | 9 |
| 2024 | 9 |
| 2025 | 7 |
| 2026 | 6 |
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In 2002 Torii's grandson Shingo Torii became Suntory's 3rd master blender.2,13 In 2013 Suntory invested 5 billion yen to raise output, and 4 new stills went into a separate room.7,8,14 Part of about 10 billion yen Suntory put into Yamazaki and Hakushu brought floor malting back in 2023, in small batches of 1.1 tonnes.6,8,12 The pilot distillery got a still heated by gas flame or electricity, and 2 spirit stills were replaced.6,8,12
Its water comes from Mt. Tennozan and is drawn from wells on the site; sources differ on whether it is soft or hard.7,10,15 Its barley is imported from Scotland.16 Its malt ranges from 0 to 40 ppm of phenol, a measure of peat smoke, and most of its spirit is unpeated.7,13,17 Fermentation takes place in 8 Oregon pine and 12 stainless steel washbacks, or fermentation tanks.7,8,9 Suntory says the wooden washbacks give a complex, full spirit and the steel ones a clean one.7,8,9 Fermentation lasts between 60 and 70 hours.10,13,17 Its stills come in all shapes and sizes, including straight stills and stills with a bulge in the neck.9,18 Straight stills tend to give a heavier, more powerful new spirit, and bulge stills a lighter, cleaner one.9,18 All its wash stills are heated by direct fire, and all its spirit stills by steam through pipes inside.17,18 Direct fire is said to give a toasty, full new spirit, while steam tends to give a lighter, cleaner one.17,18 It cools the still vapour in both worms, which give a heavy spirit, and condensers, which give a light one.17 The spirit is distilled twice.17 It can make over 6 million litres of alcohol a year.13
