Hakushu Distillery was founded in 1973. The distillery is located at a high altitude (708 meters). The climate is cooler than Yamazaki, but the temperature difference between day and night is large, especially in summer.
Fifty years after Shinjiro Torii built Japan’s first distillery (Yamazaki), in order to diversify Suntory’s malt whisky, they decided to choose a completely different environment to build a second distillery; after years of hard work, the location was chosen at the foot of Kaikomagake in the Southern Alps.
History of Hakushu Distillery
The original distillery was completed in February 1973 and had six pairs of stills. It was called Hakushu 1. In 1977, Hakushu 2 joined the production and the production capacity was doubled. The new building also had six pairs of stills. It was very large for the time and in fact it was the largest distillery in the world at the time!
In 1981, Hakushu No. 3 Distillery was built opposite Hakushu No. 1 and No. 2 Distilleries, and after June 1988 it was called Hakushu East Distillery.
Hakushu has a total of 24 distiller, four saccharification tanks, and 44 steel fermentation tanks. In the past, the alcohol concentration of barrels was diluted to 63.5%, and now the standard barrel is 59.8%.
In order to protect the rich natural resources, Suntory purchased 82.5 hectares of land, 83% of which is undeveloped, including a bird sanctuary. According to Suntory, "Wild birds are very sensitive to changes in water quality in the environment and are a good monitor. The Hakushu Distillery can be said to be part of the forest, and Suntory is also doing its best to maintain a good environment for the wine!