Tasting!
Although I am not a whisky drinker, I was very interested in taking a tour of the Suntory Whisky Hakushu Distillery when my friend suggested it. I had never done something like that in Japan so I was excited to be doing something new.
To visit the distillery, you must make a reservation and for the Monozukuri tour and tasting, you must enter their lottery system. You’ll need to check their website for specific information, but typically the lottery opens about 2 months before. For our March tour, the lottery opened about mid-January. Our group of four each entered the lottery, but only one of us was able to secure a reservation. There is a re-drawing that happens a couple of weeks later and two of us were notified. The tour is 3,000 yen and is about 90 minutes in duration which includes a tasting of four whiskies plus mixing our own highball. From Tokyo, we took a two hour limited express train to Kobuchizawa Station and then caught the free shuttle to Hakushu Distillery.
The tour of the distillery was very informative and it was so interesting to see the process. The guide speaks in Japanese, but we were able to read the translations on our phones. The tasting itself was very fun and was neat to identify the notes of each whisky. Afterwards, guests of the tour are given the opportunity to purchase exclusive items in limited quantities. If you have the time, definitely recommend it!
Where the tour begins.
Tour was in Japanese, but translation available on your phone.
We walked through the distillery.
Amazing to see the process.
Thousands of whisky barrels!
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