Sasanokawa Shuzo was issued Tohoku’s first whisky-making license in 1946. It was recently reborn and refurbished in 2016 as the Asaka Distillery. Today we take a look at what to expect from this historical maker. Asaka Distillery isn’t completely new. Behind the distillery is a company called Sasanokawa Shuzo, who has been in the alcohol business since 1765. In 1946, they jumped into whisky production — or at least what “whisky production” meant in Japan in those days. The company hit their stride in the 1980s with Cherry Whisky, relying heavily on imported Scotch whisky and molasses-based spirit. They were Tohoku’s premier “Ji-whisky” producer at the time. After that particular whisky boom was over, Sasanokawa Shuzo more or less called it quits on distilling their own whisky at the Yamazakura Distillery. They had plenty of stock maturing on-site as well. Even though they weren’t making their own whisky at the time, the company famously came to the rescue of Ichiro Akuto, who needed a place to store about 400 casks of Hanyu in 2004.

PURE MALT WHISKY

Ingredient: Malt ( Imported from UK )
Alcohol: 48%
Location: Fukushima, Japan
Master Blender: Mr. Kyoji Yamaguchi
Feature: It is a good blended malt whisky with 3 types of whisky which are 5 years aged malt whisky, sherry finish whisky and peated malt whisky, and smoky flavor from peated malt whisky with sweet & smooth mouthfeel.

FINE BLENDED WHISKY

BACK TO WINES MENU