Tankyu Distillery in Hokkaido releases its first new-make spirit in a limited run

Tankyu Distillery, which opened in August 2025 in Higashikawa, in central Hokkaido, has released “Single Malt New Pot”, the first spirit it has made for single malt whisky. New pot (new make) is freshly distilled, colourless spirit that has not been matured in a cask. Because it has not yet taken on any aroma from wood, it shows the distillery’s character, shaped by its ingredients and methods, exactly as it is. It comes in a 120 ml bottle at 63% ABV, limited to 1,500 bottles for the Japanese market, priced at 2,970 yen (tax included).

Water from Asahidake, a mash filter and 168 hours of fermentation

Higashikawa lies at the foot of Daisetsuzan National Park. It is an unusual town with no public water supply: the whole community lives on groundwater that flows down from Mt Asahidake. The distillery uses this water for everything, from mashing to the water added to adjust strength. Its raw material is 100% British malted barley made by traditional floor malting, in which the grain is spread on a floor to germinate. For mashing, it has adopted a mash filter, a device rarely used in whisky production anywhere in the world, designed to extract the malt’s components efficiently and produce a rich wort. Fermentation takes a total of 168 hours in stainless steel tanks and wooden washbacks, drawing out aromas reminiscent of grapes. According to the distillery’s tasting notes, the nose offers baked bread, cheese crackers and flower nectar. On the palate there is fruity sweetness with gentle acidity, a creaminess like milk ice cream and a thick, oily texture, with a faint hint of seaweed. The finish is said to bring mulled wine, dried plum and cloves.

A Taiwan-born head distiller trained in Scotland

Production is led by head distiller Da-Wei Hsieh (known as David), who comes from Taiwan. He learned his craft at Edradour Distillery in the Highlands of Scotland and later served as master blender at a Speyside distillery. He is also known as the host of “whisky4pro”, a popular whisky podcast in Taiwan. David says that every decision made when producing the new pot was taken with the future single malt in mind, and that this glass shows the direction the distillery is aiming for.

Owning a whole cask: the Private Cask Program 2026

At the same time, the distillery has opened applications for a scheme that lets buyers purchase spirit by the cask and receive it, after maturation, as their own bottling. The spirit is made from unpeated Scottish malt (malt without smokiness). There are four cask types to choose from: a 220-litre cask of mizunara, Japanese oak from Toyama Prefecture more than 200 years old (4.25 million yen excluding tax, including eight years of storage fees); a 220-litre cask that held oloroso or Pedro Ximenez sherry for 18 years (2.25 million yen); a 200-litre bourbon cask (1.38 million yen); and a small 55-litre sherry cask (448,000 yen). For the three types other than mizunara, three years of storage fees are included. Consultations are available by Zoom, telephone or in person, in Japanese, English and Chinese. The distillery is also an unusual example in Japan of a “publicly established, privately operated” model: the town was involved in its founding, and a private company runs it.

This new pot will be hard to find in Europe. Even so, as new distilleries open one after another in Japan, it is worth noting as a case of a producer revealing its thinking through spirit that has not yet been matured. If you can taste it alongside the new make released by new distilleries in Scotland and elsewhere, it becomes easier to see how fermentation time and malt differences show up in the aroma. When Tankyu’s first single malt appears in a few years, watch how the grape and tropical fruit aromas change with maturation. The Private Cask Program, which can be discussed in English, is one way for people in Europe to take a direct part in Japanese whisky making.