Niseko's first whisky distillery has its
grand opening! <Part 1>

A new whisky distillery opened in Niseko, Hokkaido, this autumn.The distillery is run by Hakkai Brewery, a sake brewery in Minamiuonuma, Niigata Prefecture.Why is a sake brewery from a rice-producing region making whisky in Niseko?The story behind the launch of the Niseko distillery!

writer：Ryoko Kuraishi　

The distillery is surrounded by the natural forest of Niseko.

Why whisky for sake brewers?

Niseko, an area of heavy snowfall, is one of the best water areas in the country, where the subterranean water of Annupuri gushes out as spring water.The high-quality soft water is known as 'nectar water'.


The town also has a thriving agricultural industry in the summer months, growing high-quality sake rice.


However, although there are beer breweries in Niseko, there were no sake brewers.


This led to a plan to create a new industry during the green season to take advantage of the area's natural features, and to create a unique Niseko sake brewery.


This is because distillery and brewery tours are now a popular tourist attraction.

Suzuki, head of the Niseko distillery. He is a fermentation enthusiast at heart, having studied micro-organisms at university and becoming a brewer to make sake.

Meanwhile, Jiro Nagumo, president of Niigata-based Hakkai Brewery, began visiting Niseko after a visit to revitalise a ski resort area in Niigata.


Over the course of his many visits, he developed a close relationship with the people of Niseko, and it was through this connection that he was approached with the idea of brewing sake in Niseko.


In response to this offer, Hakkai Brewery saw a future in the whisky challenge.


Hokkaido, especially Niseko, has a cool climate throughout the year, with a large difference in temperature between day and night and between the four seasons, which is perfect for maturing.

It is also blessed with the famous Annupuri subsoil water.

We felt that Niseko Town had the potential to produce a whisky that is uniquely our own.

Forsyth pot stills are used.On the left is a still for gin.

Whisky is the best way to make use of Niseko's climate!

In addition to sake, Hakkai Brewery also produces beer and rice shochu.


The company has also obtained a licence to produce whisky, and five years ago began producing whisky using rice as the main ingredient, following the production of a product made from rice shochu that had been matured in oak barrels.


In other words, it is "whisky using shochu facilities", but after five years of trial and error, they had just begun to clarify the quality of whisky they wanted to achieve, such as harmony between aroma and flavour, and a balance between mildness and mellowness.The company was just beginning to clarify the quality of the whisky it wanted to achieve, such as harmony between aroma and flavour, and a balance between mellow and rich.

At the entrance, an eye-catching signboard of hammered copperware by Tamagawa-do catches the eye.

Fermentation is the key to all alcoholic beverages.

The Niseko distillery was established in 2019 with the aim of producing 'an elegant, delicate and well balanced Japanese whisky'.


The facility, comprising a distillery building and a storage facility, was completed in 2020.The distillery will blend in with the surrounding protected forest, paying homage to the spirit of the town of Niseko's symbiosis with nature.


Sake, shochu, whisky and gin.They are completely different liquors, but they all have one thing in common.That is fermentation", says Takahiro Suzuki, head distiller and director of the distillery.


He is also a key player in the production of rice-based whisky in Minamiuonuma.


The process of making distilled and brewed alcohol is different, but all alcoholic beverages share the same fermentation process, in which micro-organisms act.

Sake in particular has a long history of alcoholic fermentation using yeast.

Of course, the fermentation of whisky and that of sake should not be regarded in the same way, but we are looking for ways to apply this know-how to whisky making as well.

That is why wooden tanks are used for fermentation.Director Suzuki says that lactic acid bacteria can easily live in these tanks, which brings about a deeper flavour.

There is a disadvantage in that other micro-organisms than those favourable to fermentation can easily multiply, but this can be controlled with the wisdom and experience honed through sake brewing.


Whisky is a spirit that is nurtured by time, but we distillers have to work hard to polish the clear, undiluted spirit that goes into the wooden casks.

Distillation is of course important because it is the process that squeezes the ingredients from the fermentation, but we also put a lot of weight into the fermentation process to ensure that the ingredients in the liquid are rich after distillation."


In the second partIn the second part, we will hear more about the whisky we are aiming for and our first product, gin, from Mr Suzuki.

Continued in Part 2.