Brand
Yamazakura
Yamazakura is a Japanese whisky brand produced and marketed by Sasanokawa Shuzo through the Asaka Distillery (Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture). The range includes blended, blended malt, single malt and single cask expressions, matured in various types of casks.
- Koriyama · Fukushima · Japan
The story
Yamazakura is the commercial name used by Sasanokawa Shuzo for its whisky lines. Sasanokawa Shuzo, a long-established company known for sake and other spirits production, restarted industrial-scale whisky production with the opening of the Asaka Distillery (operational from 2016). Under the Yamazakura brand, blended releases and bottles of single malt and single cask have been issued, gaining international visibility from the early 2020s.
Production philosophy
The Yamazakura range merges Sasanokawa Shuzo's century-long expertise in fermentation and traditional Japanese production with a modern approach to whisky: targeted use of stills, attention to local climate and maturation conditions, and experimentation with different wood types to achieve distinctive aromatic profiles.
Territory
Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, Tōhoku region, Japan
Awards and recognition
World's Best Blended Malt – World Whiskies Awards 2022 (Yamazakura Blended Malt Asaka); recognitions and medals in international competitions for some bottlings (e.g. Tokyo Whisky & Spirits Competition).
Production method
Yamazakura whiskies are produced and bottled in Japan at Sasanokawa Shuzo's Asaka Distillery. Distillation uses traditional pot stills and the range includes blends, blended malts, single malts and single cask releases; bottles show maturations and finishes in a variety of cask types.
Distillation
Pot stills — Asaka plant with wash still and spirit still
Ageing
Maturation in wooden casks; various wood types are used, with a focus on ex-bourbon and sherry casks, plus finishes in distinctive woods.
Characteristics
- Type
- Brand
- City
- Koriyama
- Categories
- Japanese whisky
- blended whisky
- blended malt
- Japanese single malt
- single cask
- Raw materials
- barley malt
- cereals (grain whisky components)
- Casks and ageing vessels
- ex-bourbon
- sherry (oloroso / sherry wood)
- mizunara
- virgin oak / new oak
- Napa Valley (Cabernet Sauvignon) wine cask
- finishes in unconventional casks (e.g. IPA cask finish)
- Representative products
- Yamazakura Blended Whisky 40% Cl.70 - Giftbox
- Yamazakura Blended Malt Japanese Whisky - Sherry Wood Reserve (Asaka)
- Yamazakura Japanese Single Malt Whisky Asaka 2022 Edition
- Yamazakura Single Cask Whisky Asaka (limited editions)
What makes it distinctive
- Produced by Sasanokawa Shuzo at the Asaka Distillery in Koriyama (Fukushima).
- Broad range: blended, blended malt, single malt and single cask.
- Use of maturations and finishes in various cask types (ex-bourbon, sherry, mizunara, new oak and experimental finishes).
- International recognition: Yamazakura has received awards at international competitions for some expressions.
Products from Yamazakura
Full collectionThere are currently no products available from this producer.