Established in 1973. Suntory’s second distillery located at an altitude of 700 meters above sea level.

1.Outline

　Suntory’s second distillery, established under the leadership of Suntory’s second president “Keizo Saji” to commemorate the 50th anniversary of “Yamazaki Distillery”.
The distillery is located at about 700 meters above sea level at the foot of Kai Komagatake in the Southern Alps, and is one of the highest distilleries in the world.
The distillery aims to produce different types of sake from the Yamazaki distillery, and the sake produced here is different from that of the Yamazaki distillery, being gentle and clean.
The distillery boasts the largest site of any whiskey distillery in Japan, covering 825,000 square meters, or about 64 times the size of the Tokyo Dome.
It is one of the largest distilleries in the world.
The distillery is surrounded by forests, and 83% of the site is undeveloped to protect the natural environment.
It is also called the “forest distillery” because of the way it is surrounded by forests.

2.Basic Information

2-1. Owner

Suntory (Suntory Holdings Ltd.)

2-2. Location

408-0316, Japan
2913-1 Torihara, Hakushu-cho, Hokuto City, Yamanashi Prefecture

 

2-3. Access

Bus】 【Bus
Free shuttle bus service is available from JR Kobuchizawa Station.

Car】 【Car
20 minutes by car from Chuo Expressway IC Kobuchizawa

2-4. Start of operation

1973 (Showa 48)

2-5. Main Products

Single malt Hakushu 12years old

[Review] Single Malt Hakushu 12y...

Slightly smoky malt is fermented in a wooden tub tank using upper yeast. The fruity and creamy wash is distilled in an open-fire distillation pot and stored in white oak barrels and aged in a Hakushu forest storage for more than 12 years.

jpwhisky.net

2024.02.08

More items here.

3.Tours and Visitor Centers

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There are two types of courses: “Hakushu Distillery Manufacturing Tour (90 minutes, 3,000 yen) ” and ” Hakushu Distillery Manufacturing Tour Premium (130 minutes, 5,000 yen )”.
Please note that like the Yamazaki Distillery, this tour is offered by lottery.
Click here to make a reservation.

https://reserve.suntory.co.jp/regist/switch/00051c0001CJe69uI7/courseList?wr=suntory_factory&p=hakushu_01&k=176014407c 55557e600017166817402052534066544642331243215d5b116600421a624047205c5a45350a4512361448765400116007454531121370 5157403204114062444676073d1761501646621613

3-1. Gourmet Information in the Surrounding Area

After stopping by Hakushu Distillery, you can enjoy a gourmet meal.

3-2. Sightseeing Lodging

Hakushu Distillery is only about two hours away from Tokyo, but if you go to the trouble of visiting the distillery, there is no excuse not to enjoy the local sightseeing and hotels as well.

4.Manufacturing specs

Long fermentation in wooden fermentation tanks and direct distillation using traditional methods.
In addition, Nikka Whisky introduced a café-type continuous distillation machine in 2013, which was introduced early on in the company’s history.
It is now possible to produce grain and rye whiskey.
The Suntory Natural Water Southern Alps bottling plant is also located on the same site.

5.Ripening environment

One of the differences from the Yamazaki distillery is that the Hakushu distillery owns a barrel mill.
The barrels used for aging are mainly American white oak bourbon and hogshead barrels. (Reassembled bourbon barrels)
We also do our own “recharging,” which is the process of browning the barrels.
The degree of browning is set in detail by the craftsman according to the purpose of the browning.
Because the temperature is much cooler and less humid than at the Yamazaki distillery, the aging process proceeds more slowly.

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6.Distillery Story

6-1. History

6-2. Past blenders

Shinjiro Torii, the first master blender

Shinjiro Torii, the well-known founder of Kotobukiya, originally had an excellent sense of smell and was called the “nose of Osaka.
It is said that he learned the know-how of blending at a medicine wholesaler where he served as an apprentice.
He was fond of saying, “Try it, try it, or you will never understand.” Needless to say, this spirit is the foundation of Suntory today.
It is said that he and Keizo Saji, the second master blender, often had father-son fights, with the president’s office yelling at him daily, “You’re a heck of a blender! from the president’s office on a daily basis.
On the other hand, he also had a loyal side that was quick to come to the aid of those in need.

↓Over 20,000 words, BOOKMARK recommended! The life of “Shinjiro Torii” who lived with whiskey and the history of Japan↓.

Here are some books I recommend to those who wish to learn more about “Shinjiro Torii.”

Chief Blender “Tameo Onishi”

He is the person who discovered the underground water of the Hakushu-Ojira River, which is the mother water (brewing water) of Hakushu Distillery, through the granite.
Onishi Tameo, nicknamed “Water Hunter” for his persistence in seeking better water quality, is said to have been the first person to find Mizunara oak wood as a substitute for barrel wood when it became difficult to purchase barrels from overseas due to postwar influences.
He served as the 8th Yamazaki distillery factory manager from 1963 to 1970.

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Second generation master blender “Keizo Saji”.

Keizo Saji, the second president of Kotobukiya and known as the founder of Suntory, is the second son of the Torii family.
He is said to have studied the synthesis of amino acids, which affect higher alcohols in whiskey, at the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Osaka Imperial University on the recommendation of Shinjiro.
His eldest son Kichitaro was scheduled to succeed him as the second generation, but he died prematurely at the age of 33, so his second son Keizo took over the reins.
The Saji family name is a mystery, and there are many theories. Please refer to the article on the Saji family name in the Historical Contents section of this website.
https://jpwhisky.net/whiskeyhistory4-2-2-2-26865/#toc3
The company is also famous for restarting the beer business that its predecessor, Shinjiro, had struggled with and once withdrew from, and in 1967 launched Junsei, a draft beer in non-heat-treated bottles.
He was the founder of the Public Advertising Organization (now AC Japan) and has a deep knowledge of the arts, contributing to the improvement of cultural projects in Japan such as the Suntory Museum of Art and Suntory Hall.
In 1973, Hakushu Distillery was built and single malt “Hakushu” was released.

In 1989, on the 90th anniversary of its founding, the company released “Hibiki,” a blended whiskey that was later inducted into the Hall of Fame at the World Competition of Alcoholic Beverages under the theme “Harmonizing with People and Nature.”

As an aside, it is said that Suntory’s managers dreaded the memo paper (and the back of the paper that was no longer needed) with instructions, commonly known as “marume”, that was given to them by President Keizo.
It was so named because Keizo’s signature of k in ○ looks like the hiragana “me”.
It issaid that the name was originallyadopted byHitomi Yamaguchi, who was head of the advertising production section when Keizowassenior managing director, who used topass around memos with instructions to her subordinates on the backs of flyers.

Chief Blender “Inui Sato”.

He is the man who, together with Keizo Saji, created the current single malt “Yamazaki” over a period of two years.

Chief Blender “Koichi Inatomi

Former Suntory Chief Blender.
He is the former boss of Chief Blender Seiichi Koshimizu and the developer of Hibiki 17nen.

In 1968, he studied at Heriot-Watt University in Scotland, where he received his PhD in basic research in brewing.
After leaving Suntory in 2000, he was a visiting scholar at the University of Glasgow, where he was engaged in research on the industrial history of Scotch whisky.
In 2016, he was awarded the “Hall of Fame” recognized by Whisky Magazine, the world’s leading whisky magazine.
He is the second Japanese to be inducted into the Whisky Hall of Fame.

Third generation master blender “Shingo Torii

Born in 1953. Graduated from Konan University. Completed graduate studies at the University of Southern California.
Director since 1992, Vice President since 2003, Representative Director of Kansai Association of Corporate Executives since 2012, Vice Chairman since 2002, Vice Chairman of Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The founder, Shinjiro Torii, is his grandfather, and the second president, Keizo Saji, is his uncle.
He has been a master blender since 2002.

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Chief Blender “Seiichi Koshimizu”

Seiichi Koshimizu
Born in Yamanashi Prefecture in1949
1973 Joined Suntory and assigned to Tamagawa Factory
1976Engaged in whiskey storage andaging research at the Central Research Institute and the Liquor and Food Research Institute
1985Moved to YamazakiDistillery (now Yamazaki Distillery)(in charge of storage)
1991: Moved to the Blender’s Office at the Institute of Western Wine and Spirits
1996: Chief Blender, Blender Office
1999 Chief Blender, Blender Office
2014 Honorary Chief Blender
2015: Inducted into Whisky Magazine’s“HALL of FAME
＜Current Activities
Visiting Professor at Kansai University
Visiting Professor, University of Yamanashi
Yamanashi Ambassador
Vice President and Representative Director of Haserabo Co.

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Chief Blender “Shinji Fukuyo

Born in Aichi Prefecture in 1961. Graduated from Nagoya University, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Agricultural Chemistry.
Joined Suntory Limited (at that time) in 1984.
After working in the blender’s office at Hakushu Distillery (now Hakushu Distillery), moved to England in 1996.
After working at Heriot-Watt University (Edinburgh) and on secondment to Morrison Bowmore Distillers (Glasgow), he returned to Japan in 2002.
In 2003, he became the chief blender, and in 2009, he became the head of the blender’s office and the fifth chief blender.
He has worked on many Suntory whiskies, including the various limited edition series of Yamazaki.

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7.List of other distilleries

List of Japanese Whisky Distille...

The latest list of whisky distilleries in Japan updated in January 2021, including Yamazaki distillery, Hakushu distillery, Yoichi distillery, Miyagikyo distillery, craft distilleries Chichibu distillery, Atsugishi distillery, Gaia Flow Shizuoka distillery, Mars Shinshu distillery, Mars Tsunuki distillery, Saburo Maru distillery, Azumi distillery, and 27 more! I'll be back!

jpwhisky.net

2024.03.12