A Miniature Tour of Akkeshi Distillery
Akkeshi Distillery is located in the same premises as its main office and has 2,960 square feet of space to use for whisky production. This beautiful, modern-styled white building houses two pot stills and six washbacks. For maturing whiskies, sherry butt and ex-bourbon barrels will be used primarily, but other casks like Japanese oak (mizunara), ex-wine casks, and ex-rum barrels will be used as well. Currently, Akkeshi uses barley from Scotland, but will soon switch to local resources for future drams. Though Akkeshi Distillery is the first warehouse, there are plans for opening more warehouses in the mountainous and coastal regions.
Posing a challenge to the Japanese whisky market, the love for Islay peaty whiskies was the starting point of Akkeshi Distillery and its ultimate goal to provide the public with smoky spirits.
Another ambition of Akkeshi Distillery is to produce drams that suit well with the popular foods in the Akkeshi town: dairy products and oysters. Oysters are a significant food source among the residents, and dairy farms cover the terrain of the town. Akkeshi plans to create whiskies that can complement the oysters and cheese produced in the area. Since Akkeshi recently opened, its first single-malt release will be available in three years.
