WHISKY
JAPANESE WHISKY
Until recently, many people didn’t know that Japan produced fabulous Whisky. These days Whisky’s such as Suntory and Nikka are well known and have firmly placed Japan on the Whisky-making map.
When we think of Japan, we envisage soft, clean water; beautiful environments; four distinctive seasons; and artisan craftsmanship. These same Japanese elements are present in the unique Whisky’s now made in Japan. Japanese Whisky is now highly regarded within the International community – regularly winning awards and beating some of the more traditional Scotch Whiskies.
THE BIRTH OF JAPANESE WHISKY
The history of Japanese Whisky began approximately 100 years ago. Settsu Shuzo – the most prominent Japanese distillery in Japan was keen to build Japans first whisky distillery and sent Masataka Taketsuru (the third son born into a family of sake brewers) to Scotland to learn how to make Scotch Whisky. Over three years, Taketsuru learnt the art of whisky-making. Unfortunately, when he arrived home with his new Scottish wife, Japan was hit by the impact of a post-war recession which shelved the plans at Settsu Shuzo to build a whisky distillery. With his passion for Whisky, Masataka left Seettsu Shuzo, joining Kotobukiya Limited (Suntory), to direct the building of the Yamazaki Distillery. Ten years later he decided to step out on his own and founded Nikka whisky.
OUR WHISKY BRANDS
Mars Whisky is one of our premium Whisky brands, and it’s Shinshu Distillery was built in the Nagano prefecture and run by Mr Kiichiro Iwai. Iwai was Taketsuru’s immediate superior and responsible for sending Taketsuru to Scotland where they had worked together at Settsu Shuzo. Iwai was also responsible for the design of their pot stills and is considered a pioneer in the history and development of pot still Whisky in Japan. He is one of only four Japanese individuals, listed in the Top 100 most influential people in the history of Whisky making in the world.
Mars Whisky opened their 2nd distillery in the Kagoshima prefecture – Tsunuki Distillery in 2017, and also has an ageing facility on the island called Yakushima which is listed as a UNESCO world heritage site. While Mars Whisky is considered one of the Top 3 Japanese whisky brands, they are still extraordinarily humble and call themselves artisan whisky makers. We love their gentle, smooth and clean sweet style of Whisky.
WHISKY
JAPANESE WHISKY
Until recently, many people didn’t know that Japan produced fabulous Whisky. These days Whisky’s such as Suntory and Nikka are well known and have firmly placed Japan on the Whisky-making map.
When we think of Japan, we envisage soft, clean water; beautiful environments; four distinctive seasons; and artisan craftsmanship. These same Japanese elements are present in the unique Whisky’s now made in Japan. Japanese Whisky is now highly regarded within the International community – regularly winning awards and beating some of the more traditional Scotch Whiskies.
THE BIRTH OF JAPANESE WHISKY
The history of Japanese Whisky began approximately 100 years ago. Settsu Shuzo – the most prominent Japanese distillery in Japan was keen to build Japans first whisky distillery and sent Masataka Taketsuru (the third son born into a family of sake brewers) to Scotland to learn how to make Scotch Whisky. Over three years, Taketsuru learnt the art of whisky-making. Unfortunately, when he arrived home with his new Scottish wife, Japan was hit by the impact of a post-war recession which shelved the plans at Settsu Shuzo to build a whisky distillery. With his passion for Whisky, Masataka left Seettsu Shuzo, joining Kotobukiya Limited (Suntory), to direct the building of the Yamazaki Distillery. Ten years later he decided to step out on his own and founded Nikka whisky.
OUR WHISKY BRANDS
Mars Whisky is one of our premium Whisky brands, and it’s Shinshu Distillery was built in the Nagano prefecture and run by Mr Kiichiro Iwai. Iwai was Taketsuru’s immediate superior and responsible for sending Taketsuru to Scotland where they had worked together at Settsu Shuzo. Iwai was also responsible for the design of their pot stills and is considered a pioneer in the history and development of pot still Whisky in Japan. He is one of only four Japanese individuals, listed in the Top 100 most influential people in the history of Whisky making in the world.
Mars Whisky opened their 2nd distillery in the Kagoshima prefecture – Tsunuki Distillery in 2017, and also has an ageing facility on the island called Yakushima which is listed as a UNESCO world heritage site. While Mars Whisky is considered one of the Top 3 Japanese whisky brands, they are still extraordinarily humble and call themselves artisan whisky makers. We love their gentle, smooth and clean sweet style of Whisky.
WHISKY BRAND
