Japan, Osaka. Distillery operational. Owner: Suntory

If ever the Scottish distillery Macallan had an alter ego, it would be Yamazaki. The doyen of Japanese distilleries, Yamazaki has, since the closure of Karuizawa in the early 2000s, dominated the sherry cask maturation scene with its standard bearer The Yamazaki 18 Year Old and the now very rare Yamazaki 25 Year Old. Sherry has become Yamazaki's trademark, with numerous medals and awards recognizing its expertise in and mastery of this style of maturation in demanding latitudes. A large number of small batch versions - such as The Yamazaki Distiller's Sherry Edition 2013, and single casks - such as The Yamazaki Elephant Private Cask 3T70070, have played their part in this. Yamazaki is also renowned for its Mizunara Japanese oak casks, such as The Yamazaki 1986 Owner's Cask 6G5029 and its small batch vintage versions which demonstrate the master blender's skill in marrying casks from different origins (Spain, America, Japan) and different woods (sherry, bourbon, mizunara), such as in The Yamazaki 25 Year Old 1984.

A Yamazaki Oloroso Sherry Cask. These editions are highly sought after, with the first appearing in 2009, followed by additional bottlings in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2016. Yamazaki is well-known for its magnificent sherry casks, which are very carefully chosen, from tree to cask. Yamazaki also released other bottlings that demonstrate the huge breadth of ageing methods used at the distillery, such as bourbon, mizunara (Japanese oak) and puncheon cask maturations, as well as a peated version reserved for the Japanese market.