Suntory

Torii's store became the Kotobukiya company in 1921.^1,2 He put his whole fortune into building Yamazaki on the outskirts of Kyoto, despite resistance from his family and colleagues.^3,4,5 In 1924 he made Masataka Taketsuru, who had studied in Glasgow and worked in Scotch distilleries, factory director at Yamazaki, which was completed that November.^7,8,9

Kotobukiya's first whisky, Suntory Shirofuda (White Label), came out in 1929.^4,8,10 Demand was poor, partly because it was too smoky for Japanese drinkers.^4,8,10 Taketsuru left in 1934 and founded the company that became Nikka, in Yoichi, Hokkaido.^7,9,10 Suntory Whisky Kakubin, named for its square bottle, followed in 1937.^3,4,8 Its lighter style suited drinking with Japanese food and is now typical of Japanese whisky.^3,4,8

Torii's son Keizo Saji became president of Kotobukiya in 1961.^5,11 In 1963 the company became Suntory, a name taken from its whisky that joins "sun" with "Tory", an English form of Torii's name.^1,3,5 In 1972 Saji built Sungrain Chita Distillery, the forerunner of Chita Distillery, on the Chita Peninsula in Aichi Prefecture.^4,12,13 It is a grain distillery, making the grain whisky that goes into blends such as Kakubin alongside whisky from Yamazaki and Hakushu.^4,12,13 Hakushu Distillery followed in 1973, in the forest at the foot of Mt. Kaikomagatake in Japan's Southern Alps.^3,4,5 In 1981 a second site, Hakushu East, opened near the first.^10,14 With Japan newly affluent, Saji judged the time right, and in 1984 Suntory launched Yamazaki single malt, a malt whisky from one distillery.^5,8 Hibiki followed in 1989 to mark the company's 90th anniversary.⁵

Shinichiro Torii became Suntory's third president in 1990.¹⁵ In 1994 Suntory bought Morrison Bowmore Distillers Ltd, which owns the Bowmore, Auchentoshan and Glen Garioch distilleries in Scotland.^16,17 By July 1996 Suntory had put its 25 percent stake in The Macallan into HS Distillers, a joint venture that Highland Distillers controlled.¹⁸ Nobutada Saji succeeded his cousin Shinichiro Torii as Suntory's 4th president in 2001.^6,19 In 2002 Shingo Torii, the founder's grandson, became Suntory's 3rd Master Blender, the lead blender of its whiskies.^5,12 On 1 April 2009 Suntory became a holding company, Suntory Holdings Limited.¹ That year Shinji Fukuyo became the fifth chief blender, the head of its blending team, after working at Hakushu Distillery and Morrison Bowmore in Scotland.¹³ After buying Beam Inc. in 2014, Suntory renamed it Beam Suntory, now called Suntory Global Spirits.^1,4,6 On 1 October 2014 Takeshi Niinami became president, the first from outside the founding family.^19,20 For its 100th anniversary of whisky making in 2023, Suntory planned to invest about 10 billion yen.⁴ It also planned to malt barley on a malting floor, a traditional method, at both Yamazaki and Hakushu.⁴ Nobuhiro Torii, the founder's great-grandson, became president in March 2025.¹