Distillery report - Shindo Distillery

A new whisky distillery (called Shindo Distillery) has opened in Fukuoka Prefecture, and we visited it for a report.

Asakura City, located in the interior of Fukuoka Prefecture, is a fertile granary with rich water sources from the Chikugo River and its tributaries. It is also known as a production area for fruits such as grapes, pears, and peaches. Shinozaki Corporation, a long-established brewery in the area, was founded in the late Edo period as Shinozaki Shoten, a sake brewery, and has since expanded its business to include shochu, amazake (sweet sake), and fruit liqueurs, and in August 2021, it newly started producing whisky.

Shinozaki Corporation, whose corporate motto is to "contribute to society through products that use koji," started producing shochu about 40 years ago. The company has been producing barrel-aged shochu and other products, and has actually accumulated a lot of expertise in making distilled spirits and aging them in barrels. Mr. Michiaki Shinozaki, General Manager of the Planning Department, says that they aim to create a precisely calculated taste by utilizing this experience. Specifically, the company aims to not only express the major flavors of whisky, but also to focus on the minor flavors in order to produce whisky with multilayered and aromatic flavors.

The computer-controlled manufacturing equipment is made by Miyake Manufacturing. The northern part of Kyushu is said to have large differences in temperature throughout the four seasons, and they are accumulating various data on a daily basis to ensure stable quality even in such an environment. Materials such as the mash tun and fermentation tank are made of stainless steel, a style that allows for easy trial and error, and the pot still is also set up in a style that allows for easy trial and error. We were impressed by the way he emphasized the importance of planable production based on numbers and data.

As a long-term plan, they are working on growing barley malt, taking advantage of the fertile granary area. They are also planting Mizunara in the mountain forests of Hita on the border of Oita Prefecture, which they hope to use for barrels in the future. The new whisky will be born in 2024 at the earliest, but we are really looking forward to it!

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