Category Archives: Akkeshi

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Benizakura Distillery – Hokkaido Gin & George Orwell

The city of Sapporo is the capital of Hokkaido, known throughout the world for its skiing culture, Sapporo beer, and the amazing Sapporo Snow Festival, which attracts millions of tourists each year. The city is also the fifth largest in Japan in terms of population. Looking at Japanese food, Hokkaido can’t be beaten. The cold […]

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Interview With Brian Ashcraft On “Japanese Whisky – The Ultimate Guide to the World’s Most Desirable Spirit”

Any lover of Japanese culture has read something by Brian Ashcraft. Personally, I follow his seasonal anime guides on Kotaku, but he writes on everything “Japan”. Tattoos, recent trends, politics, robots, you name it and he’s probably covered it. So, I’m glad to chat with him about his most recent book on an important part […]

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The All-Hokkaido Japanese Whisky

We’ve been hearing about the Akkeshi distillery quite a lot recently. Exciting times are afoot up in Hokkaido, especially since the distillery released their very first New Born bottling at the end of February.   Having tasted it, one thing is for certain – We can expect some great things from Akkeshi in the future. […]

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The First Akkeshi Whisky Arrives

On Friday, February 9th, up at the Akkeshi distillery in Hokkaido, a ceremony was held celebrating the company’s first whisky bottling. In the parking lot, the distillery team was joined by the heads of the company backing the venture, as a Japanese priest moved forward with the ceremony. After cutting the inauguration ribbon, the first […]

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Japanese Whisky Festivals You Can’t Miss In 2018

In our recent piece on what’s happening in Japanese whisky in 2018, we briefly mentioned some of the whisky events in Japan fans may want to attend as the year progresses. After attending many of these gatherings in 2017, I can safely say that this year is going to be even more exciting, and busy. […]

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The Year Ahead – What’s Set To Happen in Japanese Whisky in 2018

Our recent piece on Japanese whisky in 2017 aimed to help you look back on the incredible year, reminisce on drams tasted and events attended, and learn a little bit more about the wonderful world of Japanese whisky. As 2018 comes to a close, it’s time to let the past go and focus on the […]

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Akkeshi – Japan’s “Islay” Distillery

During the Tokyo Whisky Festival last month, one seminar caught my attention over the others. Into the main hall at 11.15, I rushed up to the seminar room for the 1 hour talk on Japan’s newest Hokkaido producer, the Akkeshi distillery. Held by the charismatic yet extremely humble distillery leader, Katsuyuki Tatsuzaki, attendees were given […]