Founded in 2017 by Komasa Jyozo Co., a distinguished Kagoshima shōchū producer established in 1883. Kanosuke Distillery pays homage to Kanosuke Komasa, the innovative leader behind Japan’s pioneering oak-cask aged rice shōchū, Mellowed Kozuru (1957).
Perched along the pristine shores of Fukiagehama Beach, one of Japan’s longest sand dunes, stretching roughly 50 km with views of the East China Sea, the distillery benefits from a unique climate: hot, sunny summers and freezing winters, gentle sea breezes, and abundant underground water naturally filtered through the Shirasu Plateau.
The architecture and layout reflect both craft and creativity. The two-story, U-shaped facility houses three individually shaped copper pot stills. Each with unique necks and lyne-arm angles. Allowing Kanosuke to tailor flavor profiles by blending distillates from different stills or redistilling them in various combinations.
Driven by a heritage of innovation, Kanosuke’s fourth-generation master distiller, Yoshitsugu Komasa, armed with shōchū-making wisdom and whisky training in Scotland and the U.S., has established a distinct whisky-making ethos: one grounded in regional terroir, shōchū craft, and the ambition to “speak the world’s language” through whisky.
Kanosuke’s dedication to quality is already being recognized globally. Its flagship Kanosuke Single Malt (released 2021) garnered Gold at the 2023 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. Meanwhile, the Double Distillery blend, a marriage of malt from Kanosuke and grain from its Hioki sister distillery, earned Gold at the 2025 World Whiskies Awards.
