Akkeshi

About AkkeshiJapan

Akkeshi Distillery stands in the town of Akkeshi in eastern Hokkaido, near the Bekanbeushi wetland and Akkeshi Bay, where sea fog is common. It is owned by Kenten Jitsugyo Co., Ltd., a food import trading company whose president Keiichi Hida wanted to make whisky in the style of Islay malt; after test maturation of bought-in spirit from 2013, construction began in 2015 and distilling started in October 2016, the first new whisky distillery in Hokkaido in about 80 years. Its two pot stills were installed by staff from Forsyths, and the distillery aims to make Islay-like whisky by traditional Scottish methods. Its first release was New Born Foundations 1 in February 2018, followed by its first single malt, Sarorunkamuy, in February 2020. The 24 Solar Terms series began with the single malt Kanro in October 2020, with about four releases a year named after the seasons of the traditional calendar, and the 24th release, Shubun, came out in August 2026.