YAMAZAKI — BRAND
Yamazaki is the birthplace of Japanese whisky — the single malt from Japan's first distillery, opened by Suntory's Shinjiro Torii in 1923 near Kyoto. Its Yamazaki 12 was the country's first single malt, and a sherried 2013 release was named World Whisky of the Year in 2015. Layered and elegant, often built on Japanese mizunara oak, it remains both pioneer and benchmark. This page gathers the Yamazaki expressions in the vault, from the core 12, 18 and 25 to the cask editions.
- Japan's first and oldest malt whisky distillery — founded 1923 by Suntory's Shinjiro Torii.
- At the foot of Mount Tennōzan near Kyoto, where the Katsura, Uji and Kizu rivers meet — chosen for soft water and a misty climate.
- Masataka Taketsuru, later the founder of Nikka, was its first distillery manager.
- A dozen stills of varying shapes make many spirit styles in-house; maturation spans American oak, Spanish sherry and mizunara (Japanese oak).
- Yamazaki 12 (1984) was Japan's first single malt; Yamazaki is the best-selling single malt in Japan.
- Mizunara — first used here during WWII when sherry casks ran short — is a Yamazaki signature.
Shinjiro Torii founded what became Suntory in 1899, selling Western-style spirits and the sweet Akadama wine. Convinced Japan could make a great whisky suited to its own palate, he built Yamazaki in 1923 — the country's first distillery — and hired the Scotland-trained Masataka Taketsuru to run it. The first bottling, Suntory Shirofuda, arrived in 1929 to a quiet reception; success came with Kakubin in 1937. A century on, Yamazaki is where Japanese whisky began, and still a benchmark for it.
The site sits in a misty valley where three rivers converge, giving soft water and humidity that suit maturation. Inside, a dozen stills of different shapes and sizes let the distillery make a wide spread of spirit styles in-house, which are then aged across American oak, Spanish sherry and mizunara. That Japanese oak — first pressed into service in wartime — lends the incense and sandalwood notes collectors prize, and is much of what makes Yamazaki taste like nowhere else.
The Expressions
The Yamazaki range in the vault — we link each as it's added:
| Core | |
| Yamazaki 12 Year | Japan's first single malt (1984) |
| Yamazaki 18 Year | Deeply sherried; the flagship aged release |
| Yamazaki 25 Year | Mahogany, rich and rare |
| Yamazaki Distiller's Reserve | No age statement; the entry to the range |
| Cask Editions | |
| Yamazaki Mizunara | Japanese-oak matured |
| Yamazaki Sherry Cask | The 2013 was World Whisky of the Year (2015) |
| Yamazaki Bourbon Barrel | American-oak matured |
Yamazaki sits within the wider Japanese whisky collection, alongside its Suntory stablemates Hakushu and Hibiki. For the tradition it was modelled on, see single malt Scotch, or browse our best sellers.
Collector Note
Yamazaki is among the most collected whiskies in the world. When global demand outran supply, age-stated 12, 18 and 25 became hard to find and climbed in price, and the cask editions — especially the Sherry Cask 2013 and the Mizunara releases — trade well above issue. Authenticity matters as much as anything here, since high prices attract counterfeits: age, edition, fill level and condition all shape what a bottle is worth.
How Yamazaki Is Made
Yamazaki draws soft water from a valley where three rivers meet and ferments in wooden washbacks before distilling in a dozen pot stills of deliberately varied shapes and sizes — the range of stills is how one distillery produces so many different spirit characters. Those spirits then mature across American oak, Spanish sherry and Japanese mizunara, in a climate whose swings of temperature and humidity Suntory calls its own kind of maturation. Blending those many components is what gives Yamazaki its layered, elegant style; mizunara is the cask that makes it unmistakably Japanese.
Authentication & Vault Preservation
Every Yamazaki bottle sold through Midnight Whiskey is sourced as an authorized, authentic retailer, vault-stored and insured, shipped with protective handling and age-verified 21-and-over signature on delivery, and authenticated by our concierge before it ships. For the details, see how each bottle is checked and verified, vault storage and our concierge, and shipping, sourcing and more.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Yamazaki whisky?
Yamazaki is the single malt from Japan's first and oldest whisky distillery, founded by Suntory's Shinjiro Torii in 1923 at the foot of Mount Tennōzan near Kyoto. It's the whisky that began the Japanese category — and, in the form of Yamazaki 12, the first Japanese single malt, launched in 1984. Made with a wide range of still shapes and cask types, including Japanese mizunara oak, it's known for an elegant, layered style and is the best-selling single malt in Japan.
What's special about the Yamazaki distillery and its casks?
Torii chose the site where the Katsura, Uji and Kizu rivers meet, for its soft water and misty, humid climate — conditions that suit slow maturation. The distillery runs a dozen stills of different shapes to make many spirit styles in-house, then matures across American oak, Spanish sherry and mizunara, the prized Japanese oak first used here during the Second World War when sherry casks ran short. One of its sherried releases, the Yamazaki Sherry Cask 2013, was named World Whisky of the Year in Jim Murray's Whisky Bible 2015.
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