Snow Peak and Nagahama Distillery: two whiskies that paint the campfire

Snow Peak, the Japanese outdoor equipment maker (headquartered in Sanjo, Niigata Prefecture), launched “OKIBI World Blended Whisky 2026” and “TAKIBI World Blended Whisky 2026” on 3 October 2026 at its directly operated stores in Japan. The whiskies were developed jointly with Nagahama Distillery in Nagahama, Shiga Prefecture. This is the second year of the collaboration between the two companies. The release coincided with Snow Peak’s own autumn event, the “Yukimine-sai” (Snow Peak Way), held every year. It is one example of a cross-industry partnership between a camping-gear company and a distillery.

A distillery beside Lake Biwa, among the smallest in Japan

Nagahama Distillery is in the city of Nagahama, on the shore of Lake Biwa, Japan’s largest lake, to the north-east of Kyoto. It is run by Nagahama Roman Beer, a local beer company, and began operating in November 2016. A craft beer brewery and a restaurant share the same building, and the distillery section covers only about 26 square metres, making it one of the smallest distilleries in Japan. It uses pot stills of an unusual shape. Its guiding principle is “ichijo ichitaru” (one brew, one cask): to give everything to each individual batch and to bring out the character of every single cask.

The gentle “okibi” and the powerful “takibi”

“Okibi” refers to the red embers of charcoal that remain once the flames have died down. OKIBI is built mainly around Nagahama’s own spirit matured in red wine casks and sherry casks. Its appeal lies in an elegant sweetness reminiscent of berries and dried fruit, and a smooth texture. Smokiness is deliberately restrained, bringing the softness of the malt and the fruity aromas from the casks to the fore. TAKIBI, by contrast, shares the same sweet foundation. A very small amount of peated spirit matured in Islay casks (casks associated with Islay, the Scottish island) is added to give a fuller body and a faint smoky aroma that rises to the nose. The “World Blended” in the names is, in Japan, generally a term for blends that may include spirits from overseas. Both come in 700ml bottles and cost 8,800 yen (tax included).

Why an outdoor brand makes spirits

Snow Peak states its mission as “connecting nature with people, and people with one another, to restore humanity”. Besides camping gear, it has expanded into food, including running restaurants and cafés. In 2022 it set up a subsidiary, Snow Peak Local Foods, to promote regional food culture, and this company handled the planning and sale of these whiskies. The idea was to create, together with a whisky maker, a drink that suits the time spent around a campfire. To mark the launch, three types of glass engraved with the logo also went on sale, though these are not a joint product with the distillery.

These two bottles are limited editions sold only at Snow Peak’s directly operated stores in Japan, and are not sold at the distillery either. Even so, the tasting approach they suggest can be tried at home. Set a fruity whisky from sherry or red wine casks beside one with just a little peat added, and it is easy to see how the smoky aroma changes the sweetness. You might pair OKIBI with an after-dinner dessert, and a more robust style such as TAKIBI beside an outdoor fire. If you see the name Nagahama Distillery in a European specialist shop, it is worth finding out what kind of spirit one of Japan’s smallest distilleries produces.