The White Oak distillery is perhaps the least known of Japan’s whisky producers. The distillery was founded in 1888 to produce sake, and because of this, has a legitimate claim of being the country’s oldest whisky producer. In 1919, Eigashima Shuzo obtained a license to make whisky — four years before Yamazaki was built. The White Oak distillery was born in 1984, when the company moved to their current facilities, and is located in the city of Akashi in Hyogo Prefecture, west of Kobe, facing the Seto Inland Sea. The White Oak Akashi is the standard bottle from White Oak, perfect for those who want to try out Ji-whisky.