【Grand Opening on August 31st】 Tour of Distillery Water Dragon is now available.

Distillery Water Dragon, a distillery operated by Whiskey & Co. K.K., headquartered in Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, held its grand opening for the general public on August 31, 2023, and began accepting tours for the general public who wish to visit.
The distillery’s bar “Water Gate” also opened on the same day.

1.Whiskey & Co.

A regional development and rebranding company focused on the production and sale of craft spirits, as well as brand consulting services, primarily for alcoholic beverages.
The company’s main members are led by brewer Ayumu Yamaguchi, who was named among the “30 people under 30 who will change the world” in 2021 and 2022, including Shohei Otani and professional basketball player Yuta Watanabe, and Masato Yamaura, who has worked as the head of R&D at Nishi Brewery.
The brewery is led by “playful! (Asobi Gokoro), they will provide experiences of regional revitalization and brand building through whiskey making.
The first product, a craft gin “Teen Spirits,” was produced and sold in about 10 months and won a silver award at the Tokyo Whiskey & Spirits Competition (TWSC) 2022, the only competition in Japan that judges whiskeys and other spirits from around the world based on the delicate taste of Japanese people.
Its flavor is clean and refreshing, like the sea breeze in a cocktail.
The label design for “Teen Spirits” was created by the wall art group OVER ALLs, and there is even an original theme song written by SHOKICHI of EXILE.
The second product, “On Spring,” a craft gin with sweetness and freshness, was launched in April 2022, offering a unique and one-of-a-kind new “experience,” including the opportunity to enjoy the changing aroma.

2.Distillery Water Dragon

Distillery Water Dragon, located in Mishima City, Shizuoka Prefecture, was designed and renovated by the aforementioned wall art group, OVER ALLs, from a 97-year-old signboard building, the former Kaiko-do Murakamiya, which has been designated a national cultural asset. The distillery was renovated by the aforementioned wall art group OVER ALLs.
The distillery will obtain a whiskey license on May 31, 2023, and will challenge to produce rare bourbon taste whiskey in Japan under the name of “Japanese bourbon whiskey” learned from “Bourbon Whiskey” originated in the United States. The distiller is a German-made Holstein.
The distiller will be a German-made Holstein hybrid still.
The bottle size is planned to be 700ml.
The distillery has been concentrating on the production of whiskey, which is the core of whiskey making, and now that the base whiskey recipe has been finalized, the grand opening is scheduled for August 31.

For more information about the distillery, click here.

https://jpwhisky.net/japanesedistillery-1447/#4-27WhiskeyCo_Distillery_Water_Dragon”]

3. Distillery Tour

The tour, which requires advance reservations and is scheduled to last about one hour, will include an enthusiastic explanation of how and why Whiskey & Co.
The tour will include a passionate explanation of how and why Whiskey & Co. chose Mishima as the location for its whisky production, the naming process of Water Dragon, and the particulars of the production facilities built with local technology, as well as the company’s thoughts on future whisky production.
At the end of the tour, there will be a tasting service of original craft gin and whiskey before it is stored in barrels at “Water Gate,” a bar attached to the distillery.
Note that cash is not accepted at the bar.
Please pay at the Water Gate (open 10:00-22:00) on the day of the event using cashless payment (credit card, QR code payment, or electronic money). Please pay by credit card, QR code, or electronic money at the Water Gate on the day of the event.

4. Bar　Water Gate

At the bar attached to the distillery, you can enjoy gin already released by Whiskey & Co. as well as bourbon selected by the staff.
“Feather” is a standing bar on the first floor of the two-story structure, and has a relatively casual style.

1F「Feather」

“Jet” on the second floor is treated as a so-called VIP room, and is available by reservation only to holders of at least 1,000 tokens in “Financier,” a Japanese crowdfunding site that uses a blockchain system.
Incidentally, the value of tokens, like stocks, fluctuates depending on the issue, time of year, etc., so the current value of Whiskey & Co. is about 70,000 yen for 1,000 tokens.

2F「Jet」

“Jet” also offers a pairing course that includes four cocktails made with craft gin and selected bourbon whiskeys, and a casual six-course meal featuring American cuisine, the hometown of bourbon.

5.How to make reservations and use the financier

While reserving a distillery tour itself is not that difficult, it is necessary to understand the system in order to receive certain services, which can only be done with a financier.
Currently, future releases of “Distillery Water Dragon” whiskey will be sold only in Mishima City in principle, but it seems that holders (customers) with tokens will be entitled to purchase them, including but not limited to this.
To use the financier, download the application from the link or register from a PC, log in, and purchase a token for 1 yen per token.
The value of each token differs depending on the company, so it may be interesting to compare the companies within Financier.
In recent years, the number of distilleries using crowdfunding has been increasing, so it is important to keep up with the times.
Please take a look at the links below for more information.

“
Crowdfunding site” Financier”
https://financie.jp/home

Whiskey & Co. page in “Financier”
https://financie.jp/users/whiskey_and_co

Whiskey & Co. token purchase page
https://financie.jp/users/whiskey_and_co/cards

Upstairs “Jet” reservation page (separate registration required)
https://www.whiskey.co.jp/reserve/member/login.php

Distillery tour reservation page (for general applicants)
https://waterdragon.youcanbook.me/