Written by Mika Tanimoto, Owner-Bartender, Bar Little Happiness — Hiroshima’s specialist whisky & rum bar with 1,000+ bottles The most Hiroshima-specific whisky story in this column is also the most personal one for me: Sakurao Distillery makes whisky in my…
Written by Mika Tanimoto, Owner-Bartender, Bar Little Happiness — Hiroshima’s specialist whisky & rum bar with 1,000+ bottles Kameda Distillery’s approach to cask selection is built on one underlying principle: find the combinations that create complexity and internal tension, not…
Written by Mika Tanimoto, Owner-Bartender, Bar Little Happiness — Hiroshima’s specialist whisky & rum bar with 1,000+ bottles On July 4, 2026, Bar Little Happiness in Hiroshima hosts a special tasting event with Ian Chang — Master Blender of Komoro…
Written by Mika Tanimoto, Owner-Bartender, Bar Little Happiness — Hiroshima’s specialist whisky & rum bar with 1,000+ bottles In March 2026, I attended the Komoro Whisky Festival at Komoro Distillery in Nagano Prefecture. The journey from Hiroshima — by Shinkansen…
Written by Mika Tanimoto, Owner-Bartender, Bar Little Happiness — Hiroshima’s specialist whisky & rum bar with 1,000+ bottles The Araside single cask from Chichibu Distillery’s second year of production — 2009 vintage, released decades later as a single cask expression…
Written by Mika Tanimoto, Owner-Bartender, Bar Little Happiness — Hiroshima’s specialist whisky & rum bar with 1,000+ bottles Mizunara oak — Japanese oak, Quercus mongolica — is one of the most demanding and rewarding cask materials in whisky. It is…
Written by Mika Tanimoto, Owner-Bartender, Bar Little Happiness — Hiroshima’s specialist whisky & rum bar with 1,000+ bottles Most people who know the Nikka Whisky story know it as a story of Scotland and Hokkaido. Masataka Taketsuru, the founder of…
Written by Mika Tanimoto, Owner-Bartender, Bar Little Happiness — Hiroshima’s specialist whisky & rum bar with 1,000+ bottles In the world of Japanese craft rum, Nine Leaves occupies a particular place: it was there early, when very few Japanese producers…
Written by Mika Tanimoto, Owner-Bartender, Bar Little Happiness — Hiroshima’s specialist whisky & rum bar with 1,000+ bottles The sixth release in Saburomaru’s tarot series takes its name from one of the most recognisable cards in the Major Arcana: THE…
Written by Mika Tanimoto, Owner-Bartender, Bar Little Happiness — Hiroshima’s specialist whisky & rum bar with 1,000+ bottles The story of Saburomaru VII THE CHARIOT begins with a distillery that nearly ceased to exist. The full account of Saburomaru’s revival…