Japanese Whiskey
Yamazaki was the first distillery to open in Japan. It opened in the year in the year 1924. However whisky production in Japan began as early as 1870. The Japanese whisky is closer or rather more similar to the Scotch whisky than to American whisky Bourbon. There are tons of companies that produce whiskey; Suntory and Nikka are among the more famous ones. Both these companies produce single malt whisky as well as blended whisky and are a trusted name.
Shinjiro Torii the founder of Suntory had a business of importing liquor. He then went on to create his own brand of wine which he called “Akadama Port Wine”. He tried his best to duplicate the Spanish. The thrill of making wine didn’t last for too long. This wine made him successful and yet Shinjiro felt the need to achieve something more. He wanted to accomplish more. He set out to make whisky for his fellow people in Japan. It wasn’t an easy task since most of the executives in his company were against his new venture. Inspite of all the opposition, he decided to open a distillery in Yamazaki, a suburb of Kyoto. This region was well known for its water. It was believed that the Sen No Rikyu, built his tearoom in that very region.
Many a whiskies have been produced at the Yamazaki distillery. Sinjiro the founder of the distillery then is now known as “the father of Japanese whisky”. He then hired Masataka Taketsuru, who had served as a distillery executive in Scotland. He knew the art of whisky making since he studied it closely in Scotland. Suntory grew its networks and expanded the rising whisky business in Japan. Masataka Taketsuru resigned from Suntory in1934 and went on to build his own distillery and whisky making company in Yoichi.