Chita Distillery (Suntory)

Question 1

When was Chita Distillery built and what was its original name?

Answer 1

-SunGrain build in 1972
-name officially changed in 2019
-originally built at cooperative venture between Suntory and National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations
-expanded twice in 1977 and again in 1985

Question 2

What is the main raw material at Chita?

Answer 2

Corn (although they do now make some whisky there “other than grain”)
-Corn comes from Canada and the US

Question 3

What is the process at Chita?

Answer 3

-Corn is mixed with water and heated in a pressurized continuous cooking tube
-After bringing temperature down to 65C, water-slurried 6-row barley is added
-Unfiltered wort is fermented for 3-4 days
-then distilled in four-column system to at least 94% abv

Question 4

What are the different combinations of whisky distilled at Chita?

Answer 4

-Four column system
-Heavy grain spirit is produced in two columns
-Medium-type spirit by using three
-Clean type spirit using all four

Question 5

How many warehousing facilities are there at Chita?

Answer 5

There are no maturation facilities at Chita.
All Suntory whisky is aged at Yamazaki, Hakushu or Ohmi

Question 6

What investment did Suntory make in Chita distillery in 2022?

Answer 6

-Coinciding with 50th anniversary
-Suntory invested 10 billion Yen in:
Mill
biomass boiler
cooker
fermentation tanks
brand new Coffey type continuous still

Question 7

What is the name of Suntory’s forth distillery?

Answer 7

-Osumi
-located on he Osumi pennisula
-make both whisky and Sochu there