Japan, Osaka. Distillery operational. Owner: Suntory

If ever the Scottish distillery Macallan had an alter ego, it would be Yamazaki. The doyen of Japanese distilleries, Yamazaki has, since the closure of Karuizawa in the early 2000s, dominated the sherry cask maturation scene with its standard bearer The Yamazaki 18 Year Old and the now very rare Yamazaki 25 Year Old. Sherry has become Yamazaki's trademark, with numerous medals and awards recognizing its expertise in and mastery of this style of maturation in demanding latitudes. A large number of small batch versions - such as The Yamazaki Distiller's Sherry Edition 2013, and single casks - such as The Yamazaki Elephant Private Cask 3T70070, have played their part in this. Yamazaki is also renowned for its Mizunara Japanese oak casks, such as The Yamazaki 1986 Owner's Cask 6G5029 and its small batch vintage versions which demonstrate the master blender's skill in marrying casks from different origins (Spain, America, Japan) and different woods (sherry, bourbon, mizunara), such as in The Yamazaki 25 Year Old 1984.

Launched in 2014, Yamazaki Distiller’’s Reserve is a blend of whiskies, some of which have been aged in Japanese oak (Mizunara) casks and Bordeaux wine casks. In the mid-2010s, Suntory and Nikka overhauled their respective ranges, introducing new editions with no age statements and sometimes ending the production of old aged versions and vintages. After a difficult period running from the mid-1980s to the 2000s, Japanese whisky became extremely popular and the stocks of aged whisky were unable to meet demand. NAS were a solution to the problem, as not providing an age statement allowed blenders and cellar masters greater flexibility for managing their stock.