Hakushu distillery is located in the Southern Japanese Alps and is owned by Suntory, one of the big two Japanese single malt distillers. The distillery started operating in 1973 on the 50th anniversary…

Taketsuru NAS was released in September 2013 as a Pure Malt, sherry-wood finished limited edition of 2,900 bottles. The term “Pure Malt” indicates that this does not contain any grain whisky. Taketsuru…

Kilchoman distillery was founded in 2005 and was the first distillery to be built on Islay in 124 years. It is known as a farm distillery, and a proportion of the barley used in production is grown and…

Highland Park distillery is located in Kirkwall on Orkney and is Scotland’s northernmost whisky distillery. It was founded in 1798, presumably by Magnus Eunson; however the distillery did not obtain a…

Banff distillery was established in 1824 by James McKilligan & Co. on the west side of Banff Bay in Inverboyndie, a small village about a mile west of the town of Banff itself. In 1837 the distillery was…

Chichibu distillery is located in the town of Chichibu, close to the city of Saitama and about 120 kilometres to the northwest of Tokyo. Ichiro Akuto, the distillery’s charismatic founder, started con…

Ardbeg is undoubtedly one of the most well-known and beloved malt whisky distilleries in the world. Founded by Alexander Stewart, Ardbeg’s first record as a distillery dates back to 1794, and commercial…

Ben Nevis distillery is located in Fort William and sits at the base of Ben Nevis, Scotland’s highest mountain. It is said to have been founded in 1825 by “Long John” McDonald. After many changes in…

Laphroaig distillery (the name means "the beautiful hollow by the broad bay") was established in 1815, by Alex and Donald Johnston. It was sold to Long John International in the 1960ies and subsequently…

Nikka Gold & Gold was launched in 1968 and for a long time seems to have been one of the figureheads of Nikka blended whiskies. Nowadays it is not so easy to find. These tasting notes were compiled from…