The White Oak distillery is perhaps the least known of Japan's whisky producers. Nonetheless, it has a legitimate claim to be the country's oldest distillery, with a license granted in 1919 to produce whisky - four years before the Yamazaki was built. It is located in the city of Akashi in Hyogo Prefecture, west of Kobe, facing the Seto Inland Sea. The distillery was founded by Eigashima Shuzo in 1888 to produce sake. When the company moved to their current facilities in 1984, the White Oak Distillery was born. Making whisky only for one month each year, their production is very small. Most of it is blended, but when the single malts do come on the market, the whisky is named Akashi after its hometown. The first Akashi release was in 2007.