The elder brother inherited the family business. The younger brother came in from an entirely different world — and designed the whisky-making operation from scratch. He is a scientist, trained at Kyoto University in medical imaging (MRI) research. The reason he entered whisky production, he explains, is that they are fundamentally the same discipline: “Both MRI research and whisky-making are ultimately the same — how can humans work cleverly within natural phenomena?”
A 200-Year Vision
Setouchi Distillery was founded as part of a company with a 170-year history in Hiroshima. The younger brother is not thinking about the next product launch, or even the next decade. His benchmark is the year their company turns 200 years old — approximately 30 years from now. Every production decision is filtered through one question: will the flavour we are building today still be exceptional in 30 years?
The Strategy: 90% Sherry Casks
To reach their target flavour — described as “the old Macallan” style, rich and sherried — he has taken an extraordinary approach to cask selection: 90% of the distillery’s cask inventory is Oloroso sherry casks. This is highly unusual. Sherry casks are significantly more expensive than standard bourbon barrels, and most distilleries use them as accent rather than foundation. Setouchi is building its entire flavour architecture on sherry.
Fermentation: Up to 114 Hours
To build complexity in the new make spirit, Setouchi uses ale yeast alongside standard distillers’ yeast, and ferments for 90 to 114 hours — far longer than the industry norm. Longer fermentation builds the heavy, complex precursors that transform beautifully during maturation in sherry casks.
Launched for ¥100 Million — Deliberately Small
Setouchi Distillery was launched for approximately ¥100 million — a fraction of what most new distilleries invest. This low capital base was intentional: it keeps annual production at 140 casks and annual releases at 60 casks, making a first release bottle priced at ¥8,500 — accessible by Japanese craft whisky standards. Not scaling up is itself a strategy: it preserves the control needed to maintain quality.
Mika’s Perspective
When I visited Setouchi Distillery and heard the younger brother describe his thinking, what struck me was not the science — it was the patience. A company that has existed for 170 years knows something that most startups don’t: that the thing worth protecting is not this year’s revenue, but the decades-long integrity of a decision made quietly today. He is designing a whisky that neither of us will live to taste at its full maturity. That kind of conviction is rare anywhere, and remarkable in a new distillery.
This is Part 2 of Mika’s Setouchi Distillery visit report. Read the original Japanese column: https://little-happiness.jp/columns/setiuchi-whisky2/
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