Kobayashi Shuzo, maker of Hoo Biden sake, opens a whisky distillery in Nikko

Kobayashi Shuzo, best known for its Hoo Biden (“Hōō Biden”) sake brand, has completed Nikko Distillery, a whisky distillery built in Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture. A completion ceremony was held on 5 October 2026, and production began on 12 October. The company is aiming to ship its first bottles in 2030. A popular sake brewery has now started making whisky in earnest, with its own equipment.

A new distillery built by a sake brewery

Kobayashi Shuzo is a sake brewery in Oyama, Tochigi Prefecture, about 100 km north of Tokyo. It is known for Hoo Biden, a sake with a showy, fragrant aroma. The new distillery stands in the Seo district of Nikko, a tourist destination famous for its World Heritage shrines and temples, on the site of the city’s former public regional wholesale market. It is a steel-frame building, part of it two storeys high, with a total floor area of about 1,300 square metres. According to the Shimotsuke Shimbun, Kobayashi Shuzo is the third company to enter the whisky business in Tochigi Prefecture.

Two pot stills and a warehouse for about 1,000 casks

At the heart of the equipment are two pot stills (batch stills) with capacities of 5,500 litres and 3,500 litres. Pairing two stills of different sizes for double distillation is the usual approach. The site also has a warehouse that can hold about 1,000 casks, so maturation will be carried out in-house as well. About 200 people attended the completion ceremony, including Tochigi Governor Tomikazu Fukuda and Nikko Mayor Tetsuo Sedaka. President Masaki Kobayashi spoke of Nikko’s abundant water, history and culture, and said that whisky making will be a central business for passing the company’s values on to the next generation.

Towards the first bottle in 2030

About four years will pass between the start of production and the first shipment, during which the new-make spirit will keep maturing in the casks. The main point of interest is how the brewery’s experience with rice, koji and fermentation in sake making will show in the aroma and flavour of its whisky.

For European readers, it will be some time before this distillery’s whisky can be tasted. Even so, it is well worth following developments towards 2030. Japanese whisky is no longer made only by the big producers; a growing number of small distilleries, including those born from sake breweries, are appearing. By finding a bottle of Hoo Biden sake now and getting to know this brewery’s aromatic style, you will have the added pleasure of comparing it with the whisky in the future.