Hakushu Distillery

白州蒸留所 / Hakushu Jōryū-sho

Towering over many of its competitors, Hakushu is the highest operational distillery in Japan, with the site standing at over 2000 feet above sea level.  Rather like its Scottish counterpart, Dalwhinnie (the highest distillery in Scotland) some would say the altitude plays a huge part in the character and style of a spirit.  Hakushu is no exception, producing a wonderfully balanced and characterful malt of the highest quality. The water source plays almost as much importance as the altitude, with the distillery drawing its reserves from the foot of Mt. Kai Komagatake, a horse-shaped peak in the Kai Province (also cunningly known as ‘Pony Mountain’!) It is softer and has a much lower mineral content than the waters used in other Japanese distilleries, which perhaps adds to the significantly different style of spirit produced here. The impressive twin towers of the distillery’s Visitor Centre and Museum of Distillation are in homage to when the site played home to two separate distilleries, joining forces in 1981.  Perhaps the walkway between the two signifies a meeting of minds and styles which Hakushu are renowned for, with their proprietary 10, 12 and 18 YO Single Malt bottlings not only reflecting a wonderful range of flavour, but also picking up a number of awards to boot.