Yamazaki

Yamazaki was built by Shinjiro Torii, the founder of Suntory, and began work in 1923 as the first malt whisky distillery in Japan. It sits in the Yamazaki valley on the edge of Osaka prefecture, near Kyoto, where three rivers meet. The site was chosen for its soft water and a humid climate with misty, warm summers that suit maturation.

The distillery is set up to make many different styles of spirit under one roof. It uses pot stills of several shapes and sizes, both wooden and stainless steel fermenters, and a wide choice of casks. Alongside American and European oak, Yamazaki is closely linked with Japanese mizunara oak, which gives incense and sandalwood notes to some of its older whiskies.

The core range is the Distiller's Reserve without an age statement, the 12 Year Old, 18 Year Old and 25 Year Old. Around these come limited editions, such as the yearly Limited Edition releases, cask-led bottlings like Mizunara, Spanish Oak, Sherry Cask and Bourbon Barrel, the Tsukuriwake series from 2024, the Smoky Batch, and an 18 Year Old for the distillery's 100th anniversary.

Yamazaki is almost always bottled by Suntory itself. Independent bottlings are rare, and the occasional single cask is usually an official release. Many older bottlings have become hard to find and are traded at high prices.