About this SPIRIT
Skirakawa Distillery
Shirakawa distillery opened in 1939 following the opening of the Yamazaki distillery 16 years earlier. Distillation continued right through to 1969 when the company stopped producing single malt whisky, favouring the home-grown spirit Shochu as a product instead. The distillery finally closed its doors in 2003, sadly demolished just as the Japanese whisky market begun to boom.
The majority of the whisky produced between 1951 and 1969 was used in Takara Shuzo’s flagship ‘King’ blended whisky, however evidence of single malt production was found in the company archives. Following extensive research, the final remaining parcel of single malt whisky was identified in 2019 and the distillation date was confirmed to be 1958.
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Description
“There are no known examples of Japanese Whisky claiming to be from a Single Vintage that predate Shirakawa 1958,” confirms Stefan van Eycken, the pre-eminent authority on the world of Japanese whisky and distilling. “Even though Shirakawa Distillery was one of the pioneers of malt whisky making in Japan, the liquid was never officially available as a single malt. This limited 1,500 bottle release will see the Japanese Whisky category, one of the most sought-after categories of spirit in the world, continue to grow from strength to strength”.
Distilled in 1958, the liquid was aged in oak casks before being transferred into ceramic pot until it was moved into stainless steel in 2003 when the distillery closed. Whilst the exact production details are unknown, the whisky is from a time when the distillery used predominantly Japanese malted barley and Mizunara oak casks.
The Shirakawa 1958 will exist as the only single malt ever released from the distillery and the oldest-vintaged single malt whisky from Japan ever bottled.
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