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.

Yamazaki Sherry Cask is widely considered one of Suntory’’s great masterpieces. The team responsible for these bottlings leaves nothing to chance. Oak is selected from the forest and only the finest casks of Oloroso casks make the cut, ensuring the Yamazaki single malt matures in the best possible conditions. Yamazaki also released other bottlings that demonstrate the huge breadth of ageing methods used at the distillery, such as bourbon, mizunara (Japanese oak), puncheon and sherry cask maturations, as well as a peated version. This edition is part of the Tsukuriwake selection released in 2022.