Yamazaki Whisky

The Yamazaki distillery is a Japanese whisky facility located in Shimamoto, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. Opened in 1923, and owned by Suntory, it was Japan’s first commercial whisky distillery. Located amidst beautiful bamboo forests at the base of Mt. Tennozan where the Katsura, Uji, and Kizu Rivers merge southwest of Kyoto, Yamazaki enjoys an ethereal natural setting and is lauded for its pristine waters – a resource that is unquestionably important in the art of making whisky.

Shinjiro Torii, founder of Kotobukiya (which later became Suntory), began building the Yamazaki Distillery, Japan’s first malt whisky distillery, in 1923 in an effort to create a whisky uniquely suited to Japan’s climate that would be embraced by the Japanese. The site offered plentiful, high-quality underground water that was perfectly suited to whisky-making and its moist climate met essential requirements for aging whisky. Today, Yamazaki single malt whisky has been embraced by whisky-lovers the world over. Yamazaki Distillery’s unique history makes it the true birthplace of Japanese whisky.