The Yamazaki Japanese whisky distillery began production in 1924 and was the first in the new wave of modern Japanese single malt whisky distilleries. Previous Japanese ‘whiskies’ were of poor quality, frequently little more than diluted industrial alchohol or adulterated rice distillates.

In 1989 Suntory introduced their famous Hibiki brand, composed of single malt whisky from the company’s Yamazaki and Hakushu distilleries mixed with Chita grain whisky. Yamazaki single malt whisky, meanwhile, which had debuted in Japan in 1984, was introduced to western markets around the turn of the millennium, originally in 12-year-old and 18-year-old expressions. These whiskies caused a sensation in European markets and quickly began winning international drinks awards. In 2008 Yamazaki won both Best Single Malt Whisky (for Yamazaki 1987) and Best Blended Whisky (for Hibiki 30-year-old) at the World Whisky Awards.

Yamazaki today is one of the largest distilleries in Japan, making a bewildering variety of single malt spirits on no fewer than 16 stills, many of which are direct-fired. The last four of these stills were added in 2013, increasing Yamazaki’s capacity by 40%. This stylistic diversity is necessary as, unlike in Scotland, Japanese distilleries do not swap stock for blending.