First commercial whisky production was in 1924 upon the opening of the country's first distillery, Yamazaki. There are several companies producing whisky in Japan, but the two best-known and most widely available are Suntory and Nikka.

 

Two of the most influential figures in the history of Japanese whisky are Shinjiro Torii who is a founder of Suntory and Masataka Taketsuru who found Nikka. Torii decided to build the first Japanese whisky distillery in Yamazaki, a suburb of Kyoto, an area so famous for its excellent water. Torii hired Masataka Taketsuru as a distillery executive. Taketsuru had studied the art of distilling in Scotland, and brought this knowledge back to Japan in the early 1920s. Whilst working for Suntory he played a key part in helping Torii establish the Yamazaki Distillery. In 1934 he left Suntory to form his own company—Nikka. In this new venture he established the Yoichi distillery in Hokkaido. 

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Since then, Japan has become the world’s third largest producer of whisky behind Scotland and USA. Japanese whisky first won a major award in 2001. Following this, Japanese whiskies have won two of the most prestigious prizes at the World Whisky Awards in 2008 – the Yoichi 20 years old won Best Single Malt and the Hibiki 30 years old won Best Blended Whisky.

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We have an extensive selection of Japanese Whiskey from small local distilleries to award winning Suntory and Nikka whiskies. Please enjoy the craftsmanship of Japanese whisky to complete HINATA ramen experience.