Hello! I am Richard. Do you know the name of Japanese Whiskey called “Yamazaki”? “Yamazaki” is a local place name where Japanese whiskey was born. Suntory is Japanese whiskey company manufacturing “Yamazaki” that is one of whiskey brand. Suntory’s Yamazaki Distillery is located near Yamazaki Station (10 min from Kyoto Station or 20 min from Osaka Station by JR train). The distillery is at the foot of Mount Tennouzan where purified water comes from.
The other day, I attended the factory tour at Yamazaki distillery with our guests. First we learned about history of Japanese whiskey at the Whiskey Museum. And we understood how the founders installed the distillery in Yamazaki. Then the guide staff at Yamazaki took us inside the factories. During factory tour, we saw how malt and water are prepared and fermented, then distilled and matured. We were very surprised to see many whiskey barrels in the storage and some of barrels were very old. It was very fun to find the barrel that was made in the same year as we were born.
After the factory tour, we enjoyed the tasting some kinds of Yamazaki whiskey. They were all Yamazaki whiskey but their barrel were made of different kinds of woods. It was very unique experience to find that each wood would make its own taste for whiskey. We also enjoyed drinking a glass of highball (whiskey is mixed with soda). Snacks were also served. Finally, our guests enjoyed shopping and drinking some kinds of Yamazaki whisky there.
Suntory’s Yamazaki distillery tour includes visiting whiskey museum, introduction of the company, factory tour, tasting some kinds of whiskey, drinking and shopping whiskey. You must have fantastic experiences there.