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.

A Yamazaki single cask (Mizunara butt #6G5029) distilled in 1986 and bottled in 2006. Mizunara (Quercus mongolien var. crispula) is an expensive type of Japanese oak known for being difficult to work with (Mizunara casks are renowned for their tendency to leak), which nonetheless gives the whisky a special character, with notes of spices, precious wood and incense. Suntory launched the Owner’’s Cask scheme in November 2004, enabling fans and businesses to buy and bottle single casks. Emerging at a time when Japanese whisky was still largely unknown outside of the country, the scheme was brought to an end when demand later exploded. A limited edition of 405 bottles to mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of La Maison du Whisky, a whisky and fine spirits importer and distributor founded by Georges Bénitah in 1956.