Japan, Yamanashi. Distillery operational. Owner: Suntory

Built in 1973 in a subtropical forest, Hakushu quickly doubled its production capacity in 1978 to accommodate 12 pairs of stills. Despite this increase, a second distillery equipped with 12 new pot stills was also built three years later (1981) and baptized Hakushu Higashi (East). The 1980s recession linked to a 1989 tax reform eventually, however, led to the closure of the historic distillery. Hakushu's strength lies in its ability to produce different styles of malt under the same pagoda, from peated malt to unpeated, full-bodied and light malts, enabling the group's master blender to produce blends such as the world-famous Hibiki.Less well known than its illustrious colleague Yamazaki, its malts are nonetheless highly sought-after, particularly its very rare editions matured in ex-sherry casks, such as Hakushu Sherry Cask Edition 2014, and its vintage peated single casks, such as The Cask of Hakushu 1993 and Heavily Peated, Edition 2008.

Launched in 2014, Hakushu Distiller’’s Reserve is a blend of lightly and very peated whiskies. In the mid-2010s, Suntory and Nikka overhauled their respective ranges, introducing new editions with no age statements and sometimes ending the production of old aged versions and vintages. After a difficult period running from the mid-1980s to the 2000s, Japanese whisky became extremely popular and the stocks of aged whisky were unable to meet demand. NAS were a solution to the problem, as not providing an age statement allowed blenders and cellar masters greater flexibility for managing their stock.