The Red Malt Mill, which pulverizes the malted barley, is a vintage mill that was manufactured in England in 1989. It was previously used at the now-legendary Karuizawa Distillery.
The ten washbacks divide into four made with Douglas Fir and six from locally grown cedar. These are the first fermenters made in Japan and it makes Shizuoka Whisky Distillery the only one in the world to use cedar. Nakamura-san was inspired by the traditional use of cedar in sake fermentation. Their washbacks are made by the only traditional craftsmen left who know how to make them, Fuji Seiokesho from Osaka.
Shizuoka Distillery is famous for its unique pot stills. The Whisky is distilled twice in the world’s only wood-fired, direct heat still. The firewood is sourced from lumber forests in Tamakawa via Tamakawa Kicori, a lumberyard in Shizuoka City. It’s then split into firewood and dried on-site at the distillery.
Shizuoka also has a smaller wash still formerly used at the iconic, but now defunct, Karuizawa Distillery.
Aged in ex-bourbon barrels and influenced by the temperature changes in Shizuoka, the whisky matures more rapidly than distilleries with a more stable climate.
