In the cedar-scented hills west of Mount Fuji, Shizuoka Distillery is crafting a new chapter in Japanese whisky. Here, ancient Scottish copper meets Japanese firewood, and forgotten stills find new life in a forest of dreams.
🌲 Location & Landscape: Forest-Cloaked and Fuji-Kissed
Perched in the green mountains of Shizuoka Prefecture, the distillery rests in the Ukihashi area, where mist lingers among cypress and cedar groves. With Mount Fuji to the north and the Suruga Bay climate to the south, this pocket of Japan offers a unique balance of humidity, elevation, and seasonal variation—ideal for long, expressive maturation.
The distillery’s architecture itself echoes harmony with nature: simple wood structures that breathe with the trees, letting air and time shape the spirit.
🔥 Firewood & Flame: A Furnace of Unseen Whisky
In a world of gas-fired uniformity, Shizuoka stands apart by using locally sourced firewood to heat one of its stills—an ancient method that gives rise to deeper, earthy notes and a slower, more intimate distillation. The scent of burning cedar and the crackle of flame are not just ambiance; they’re part of the spirit’s DNA.
This method isn’t just poetic—it’s rare. Very few distilleries in the world still use direct wood fire, and none in Japan do it quite like Shizuoka.
🍁 The Stills: One from Scotland, One Reborn in Japan
The distillery operates two copper pot stills, and their origins tell a tale of both continuity and resurrection.
- Still K: An ex-Karuizawa still, salvaged from one of Japan’s most mythic closed distilleries. Restored and given a second life here, it carries the soul of the past into every drop.
- Still W: Made in Germany, it features a downward-sloping lyne arm and is fired with wood, giving it a broader copper contact and deeper complexity.
Each still produces a markedly different character—one delicate and fruity, the other robust and smoky—offering blenders a nuanced canvas.
💧 Water & Climate: Mist, Mountains, and Maturation
Pure spring water flows from the Southern Alps of Japan and is filtered through volcanic rock before reaching the distillery. The microclimate here—warm, humid summers and cool, foggy winters—creates a dynamic aging environment, one that pushes casks through an annual rhythm of expansion and rest.
The warehouses, tucked under forest cover, hold a range of barrels: bourbon, sherry, and even Japanese wine casks, each imprinting its story onto the spirit.
🧪 Philosophy: Crafting with Curiosity and Respect
Founder Taiko Nakamura envisioned a distillery where experimentation and reverence for tradition coexist. His team—young, precise, and deeply passionate—focuses on transparency and innovation, from ingredient sourcing to small-batch production.
This isn’t whisky for mass production. It’s a careful craft shaped by fire, forest, and faith in slow maturation.
🥃 What You Taste in a Glass of Shizuoka
Expect a spectrum—from soft orchard fruit and sweet malt to sandalwood, gentle smoke, and a whisper of forest floor. Shizuoka whisky carries the calm of the mountains, the precision of its stillmen, and the slow burn of firewood in every sip.
This is terroir.
This is spirit revived.
This is Shizuoka Distillery.