In 2013, I visited Hakushu Distillery — Suntory’s mountain whisky distillery in the Southern Japanese Alps, Yamanashi Prefecture. The visit left an impression that hasn’t faded.
A Distillery Inside a Forest
Hakushu was established in 1973 on the slopes of Mount Kaikomagatake in the Minami Alps, at an altitude of approximately 700 metres. It is surrounded by a 820,000-square-metre forest — one of Japan’s largest natural forests — and draws water from a source recognised by the Japanese government as one of the hundred finest waters in the country. The surrounding ecosystem is treated as part of the distillery. Suntory runs conservation programmes for the white-cheeked flying squirrel, the Japanese giant salamander, and other species that share the valley.
The Character of Hakushu
Hakushu’s whisky is lighter and more herbaceous than Yamazaki — the mountain air and high altitude give the spirit a fresh, almost mossy quality. Light peat, green herbs, fresh fruit, and that distinctive clean quality that comes from the mountain water. Where Yamazaki carries warmth and depth, Hakushu carries freshness and height. They are siblings, but different in everything that matters.
Mika’s Perspective
When I visited in 2013, Hakushu whisky was still accessible — not yet the object of fierce competition it has since become. I remember standing in the forest surrounding the distillery, listening to bird sounds, and feeling that this was a place that had somehow remained genuinely untouched. The whisky tastes like that feeling: clean, cool, unhurried.
Both Hakushu 12 Year Old and older expressions are available at Bar Little Happiness. If Yamazaki is the heart of Japanese whisky, Hakushu is its lungs. Read the original Japanese column: https://little-happiness.jp/columns/hakushu-distillery-2013/
Bar Little Happiness | Hiroshima, Japan
Rum & Whisky specialists | 1,000+ bottles | English menu available
Open Mon–Sat 7PM–12:30AM, Sun 7PM–midnight
No cover charge. Walk-ins welcome.
english.little-happiness.jp