Yamazaki Distillery (Suntory) and Suntory Maturation Flashcards
(18 cards)
What are the three rivers that merge at Yamazaki?
Katsura
Uji
Kizu
Because of differences in water temperature, and topography of area mists and fog are common occurrences
The Yamazaki area has long been famous for?
It’s exquisite water
When was Yamazaki distillery founded? And by whom?
-Construction began in late 1923
-Completed in 1924
-First spirit ran on November 11, 1924 at 11:11am
-Founded by Kotobukiya (Shinjo Torii’s company)
-Master Distillery Masataka Taketsuru
How many stills at Yamazaki?
8 pairs
direct heating for wash stills (direct fired, gas)
indirect heating for spirits stills (steam)
lyne arms mostly descending
Shell and Tube condensors for all stills except wash still #3 and #5 = worm tubs
stills used for between 20-30 yrs, the decommissioned
Washbacks at Yamazaki
12 Stainless Steel +
8 Oregon Pine
(all were stainless steel until 1988)
Malting took place at Yamazaki until when?
1970
What type of mashing is done at Yamazaki?
2 Stainless Steel Mash Tuns (full lauter)
filtering of mash is done slowly to produce wort that is as clear as possible
Fermentation at Yamazaki
Various yeast strains
Various peating levels for barley (some up to 40ppm)
Either wood or stainless
What are the shapes of stills at Yamazaki and how are they used?
Wash stills (8) - 5 straight, 3 bulge (direct fired)
(mostly downward lyne arms except #8 (upward)
Spirits Stills (8) 4 bulge, 4 straight (all steam)
(all downward lyne arms - some slightly)
Where are Yamazaki barrels matured?
-Only about 10% are matured at distillery.
-Most are sent to Ohmi Aging Cellar (along with other Suntory Distilleries), which is actually a complex of warehouses about 43 miles northwest of distillery.
-Ohmi was built in 1972
-Ohmi also has cooperage for Yamazaki that specializes in puncheons as opposed to Hakushu cooperage (hogsheads)
What is difference between barrel aging at Yamazaki vs Hakushu?
-Average temperature at Hakushu is lower, so a high spirit/wood contact ratio works better = smaller casks
-Average temperature at Yamazaki is higher = larger casks
(puncheons and butts)
What is the combined storage capacity for the three Suntory aging facilities (Ohmi, Hakushu, yamazaki)
-1.7 million casks (in 2022)
What is the average lifespan of a cask in the Suntory system?
-Casks have a lifespan of 50-70 years.
-At an average aging of 10 years, that means casks are reused an average of 5 times
What types of wood are used for Suntory maturation?
-ex Bourbon (ASBs, Hogsheads, and Puncheons)
-Sherry casks (exclusively Spanish Oak Butts)
-Mizunara (about 100 casks per year)
+ex-umeshu (plum liqueur) casks
+ex wine casks (they own Ch. Lagrange in Medoc)
Where does Suntory source American Oak ASBs and Hogsheads?
-barrels are mostly from Suntory distilleries in US
-hogsheads are disassembled barrels and remade at either Ohmi or Hakushu
-Puncheons are made from scratch in house at Ohmi cooperage - made of American White Oak air dried for minimum of 3 years.
Where does Suntory source its Sherry barrels?
-Exclusively made from Spanish Oak
-Suntory firmly believes that type of wood and not previous contents is most important
-Air dried for min. three years and then coopered into butts
-seasoned with Oloroso casks for at least three years
Where does Suntory source its Mizunara oak?
-Suntory is the largest user of Mizunara oak in Japan, and they get only a few hundred casks per year.
-Sometimes they have access to Hokkaido forests, but sometimes logging rights are suspended, and they buy from auctions.
-Mizunara is a minimum of 100 year old trees
When did Yamazaki add a small floor malting?
2023
