Japaense distllery Facts Flashcards
(22 cards)
Name the three distilleries in Japan with Porteus Mills.
Yamazaki
Hakushu
Shizuoka (bought from Karuizawa when it closed)
What Japanese distillery is aging whisky in an old school building?
Nagahama Distillery
What raw material is often alternated with barley in Japan for crop rotation?
Sweet Potato
What is the highest distillery in Japan in terms of elevation?
Kara distillery in the Southern Alps is 1200m
Who manufactures most of the distillery equipment for Japanese distilleries.
Forsyth in Scotland and Mitake Industries in Japan
What was the name of the first whisky that Yamazaki produced in 1929?
Shirofuda (White Label)
Who is the Master Blender for Nikka?
Hiromi Ozaki
Who is the cheif blender for Suntory
Shinji Fukuyo
Who is the Master Blender for Fuji Gotemba distillery?
Jota Tanaka
Who founded Chichibu? And when?
Ichiro Akuto
Founded in 2004
Distilling since 2008
What distillery has equipment from the legendary Karuizawa ghost distillery?
Shizuoka distillery has the mill and wash still from Karuizawa.
Japanese distilleries on island of Hokkaido
Yoichi (Nikka)
Akkeshi
Japanese distiylleries on island of Honshu
Miyagikyo (Nikka)
Chichibu 1 & 2 (Venture Whisky/Ichiro)
Fuji Gotemba (Kirin)
Hakushu (Suntory)
Mars Komagatake (Hombo Shinzo)
Shizuoka
Chita (Suntory - grain)
Yamazaki (Suntory)
Eigashima
Japanese distilleries on the island of Kyushu
Konosuke
Mars Tsunuki
of Japanese distilleries in 2016, 2022, 2024.
According to Stefan Van Eycken - # of distilleries in Japan att various historical dates.
According to Stefan VanEycken in
1985 = 35
2006 = 7 (Chichibu 2007)
2016 = 14
August 2022 = 41
August 2024 = 110+
Akkeshi Distillery
-Opened by Kenten Jitsugyo in October 2016
-inspired by Islay smoke
-Located in Hokkaido, with environment reflecting Islay
-All star project - locally grown malt, local mizunara oak, cutting peat on site
-Sarorunkamuy Single Malt - 1st release 2020
-Equipment
Mash tun = 1000kg/5000L
Washback = 5000L x 6
Wash still = 5000L from Foresyths
Spirits Still = 3600L from Foresyths (very similar to Lagavulin)
How is Sochu made?
-Raw materials - Rice, Sweet Potato, unmalted barley
-Koji used to convert starch to sugar
-Fermented by yeast cells
-Distilled in either column still (high ABV) or traditional stainless steel or wood stills to max 45% ABV
-Most then aged in earthen pots or stainless tanks
-Some aged in wood
What are the legal differences between whisky and Sochu in Japan?
-Sochu cannot exceed a certain, very low absorbance value - meaning it is markedly paler than whisky
-Whisky must be made with malted grains
What is issue with the definition of Japanese “Whisky” in the US?
-US definition of whiskey is “fermented mash of grains, stored in oak containers, bottled above 40% ABV
-There is no mention of “malted” and Koji-kin conversion is not an issue - so in the US, barrel aged rice (and barley) sochu products fall into “whisky” category
Who were the original working group set up within the JSLMA to work on the new definition of “Japanese Whisky” from 2016-2021?
Representatives from:
Suntory
Nikka
Kirn
Venture Whisky (Ichiro’s company)
Hombo Shuzo
How did the new standards require a JSLMA member to disclose that one of their “whiskies” didn’t meet the 2021 standard?
Disclosure could be made in any ONE of three ways:
-on the bottle label
-on the company’s website
-in response to a customer inquiry
Who was the first Independent Bottler in Japan?
T&T Toyama
