With the World Heritage Site of Itsukushima Shrine in the background, the brewery that has supported Hiroshima’s sake culture with sake and shochu for more than 100 years will create a hybrid distillery that combines surprisingly new ideas with proven technology.
1.Outline
Chugoku Brewery, long a familiar name in Hiroshima as a comprehensive sake production company, including sake, shochu and mirin, and the first in Japan to sell sake in paper carton containers, has launched a new company to celebrate its centenary.
The business includes the resumption of whisky production, which had been temporarily halted, and the development of new gin products.
Sakurao Gin has been developed ahead of its time and has won numerous awards and been inducted into the Hall of Fame.
The Chinese brewery changed its name to Sakurao Brewery and Distillery Co Ltd in 2021.
In fact, it also produces vodka on a limited basis.
The theme park with a whisky distillery, SAKURAO YOSHIWA WHISKY PARK (tentative name), announced for 2023, will be comparable to that of the theme park in Chiba for us Malt Lover.
2. Basic information
2-1. Owner
Sakurao Brewery and Distillery (formerly China Brewing)
2-2. Location
Postal Code 738-8602
1-12-1 Sakurao, Hatsukaichi City, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan
2-3. Access
JR.
From Hiroshima Station, get off at Hatsukaichi Station on the JR Sanyo Honsen Line Iwakuni-koukata and walk for approximately 15 minutes.
2-4. Commencement of operations
2017
2-5. Main products
The two completely contrasting wines, with the peaty Cherry O and the fruity Togouchi, and the coastal and mountainous areas for ageing, are highly recommended to compare, and both are also relatively easy to find.
None at present.
https://en.jpwhisky.net/singlemalt-japanese-sakurao-2-18296/
3. Visits and visitor centres
Advance booking essential.
The distillery staff will give you a detailed explanation of the distillery, and also provide guidance in Japanese and, depending on the time of day, English, so overseas visitors can feel at ease.
After the tour, a tasting event is held at the Visitor Centre, where there is a wide range of alcoholic beverages and goods that can only be bought here, with the single malt Miyanoshika, a vat of Sakurao and Togouchi, limited to one bottle per person, a must-have.
Schedule.
Japanese / 10:30am
15：00～
English /14:00-
[Duration.
Approx. 90 min.
Capacity]
10 people
Fees.
2000 yen per person
Click here to see the actual tour of the SAKURAO DISTILLERY distillery conducted by our staff ↓.
Image source: SAKURAO DISTILLERY | Hiroshima’s gift to the world, a craft distillery
3-1. Gourmet information on the surrounding area
The distillery staff often visit the bars ‘Little Happiness’ and ‘The BarTopNote’ in Hiroshima City, so you may be able to hear valuable stories from the masters.
Incidentally, The BarTopNote is the first distillery in Hiroshima to be selected as one of the 50 Best Discoveries.
The Best Discovery 50 is a review of more than 1,600 restaurants in 75 countries, voted for by 50 foodies from around the world, for travellers who don’t want to compromise on food.
The list combines data from rankings such as the World’s 50 Best Restaurants and World’s 50 Best Bars, South America’s 50 Best Restaurants, Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants and Asia’s 50 Best Bars, along with other unique local eateries, to create the 50 Best based on actual experience academies, the Academy presents a wide variety of restaurants and bars that have been stamped out by the academy.
The Academy is made up of 1,700 of the world’s leading food writers, chefs, restaurateurs, bar owners and foodies.
3-2. tourist accommodation
If you finish your visit early, Itsukushima Shrine is about 50 minutes away by ferry.
If you have never visited, this may be a recommended sightseeing route.
4. Manufacturing specifications
The main Holstein hybrid still is used in combination with a pot still and a column still to increase steam and copper contact.
The still has built-in stirring blades to prevent scorching and the added ability to blow steam directly into the still for heating.
Both of these functions are used to obtain a gorgeous estery aroma, but they can also be used to create a richer liquor quality without them.
| Production volume | Brewer’s yeast. |
| Brewing water | Natural water from the Oze River system |
| Preparation quantity |
1 tonne per batch |
| Malt mill | 4 Swiss Bühler roller mills 1 other domestic grain whisky mill |
| Saccharification tanks | Stainless steel semi-rotary tin made by Bavarian, Hungary 1 cooker for grain whisky |
| Wort volume | 4500 litres |
| Yeast used |
Distillery yeast |
| Fermentation tanks | 6 stainless steel vats (3 Barbarian, 3 domestic), approx. 5700 litres, fermentation 64 hours. 12 units for grain whisky, fermentation: approx. 96 hours |
| Pot still | First distillation 1 lantern-type unit made by Holstein, Germany, 5,500 litres 1 stainless steel (with decompression function) for grain whisky Redistillation 1 set of Holstein lantern-shaped hybrid stills 1500 litres + 6 shelves Stainless steel shochu distiller for grain whisky made by Yabuta Sangyo 1 set of copper column hybrid stills made by Sakrao in-house Heating system is steam jacketed for both first distillation and redistillation |
| Cooling system | Cooling tower for both first and second distillation |
| Bottling facilities | Yes |
| Maturing cellar | Sakurao cellar Dunnage type Combined grain-whisky paratizing system Togawachi storage Dunnage type, 3 tiers, approx. 4,500 casks |
| Other |
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5. Maturing environment
SAKURAO DISTILLERY has two warehouses, one located within the distillery, with malt whisky casks placed horizontally and casks containing grain whisky placed vertically.
When you visit, you can see beautiful images using projection mapping on the arranged casks.
The other is located in the Togouchi Tunnel, an abandoned tunnel used in the days of the Japanese National Railways, about an hour’s drive from the distillery.
The tunnel has a high humidity of 80%, so the volume in the casks remains the same and only the alcohol content drops.
That means the Angel’s Share is almost zero.
The too high humidity makes the hoops, which are the lifeline of the whisky casks, rust, so they are very difficult to manage.
In addition, there are times when the casks cannot be loaded or unloaded because of the snowfall on the nearby ski slopes.
Image courtesy of Sakurao Distillery | Facebook
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- Image source: SAKURAO DISTILLERY | Hiroshima’s gift to the world, a craft distillery
6. Distillery story
6-1. History
| 1918 | Chugoku Sake Brewery was established as a joint venture of local sake brewers. Production of shochu. |
|---|---|
| 1920 | Licensed to produce whisky. |
| 1938 | Reorganised as a joint-stock company. |
| 1963 | Began brewing sake and became a comprehensive manufacturer of shochu, liqueurs, mirin, whisky and other alcoholic beverages. |
| ~ | Major products launched, including Togouchi, Glory Extra (V.O.) and malt grain whisky TARUMA. |
| 1989 | Production of whisky suspended. |
| 2003 | Launch of Togochi. |
| 2004 | Single distillation plant added (for shochu and spirits). |
| 2008 | General sales of ‘Togouchi’ whisky, a blend of the original spirit from the Togouchi cellar and imported original spirit, began. |
| 2016 | Togawachi 25 Year Old (Hiroshima Toyo Carp Central League Championship Commemorative 2016) is launched. |
| 2017 | Construction of the Sakurao Distillery was completed and distilling resumed. ‘Togouchi’ Hiroshima Toyo Carp Central League Championship Commemorative 2017′ was put on sale. |
| 2018 | SAKURAO DISTILLERY was established to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the company’s founding. SAKURAO GIN ORIGINAL, SAKURAO GIN LIMITED and SAKURAO GIN HAMAGOU gins are launched. Started distillery tours and opened a visitor centre. |
| 2019 | Second phase of distillery construction (grain whisky equipment installed, new whisky cellar built, one additional Holstein pot still installed. The existing hybrid type is used for redistillation and gin distillation). |
| 2021 | Company name changed to Sakurao Brewery and Distillery Co. Single Malt Sakurao 1st Release. Single Malt Tokochi 1st Release (both cask strength) is released. Fermentation tanks are expanded. |
| 2022 | Single Malt Sakurao and Single Malt Togouchi (both 43% alc.) Single Malt Cherry O SHERRY CASK STILLMAN’S SELECTION Single Cask Sakaurao Lickaman Whisky Messe 2022 Bottle. ‘Togochi 2019 3 Years for THE WHISKY CREW’ ‘Togouchi 2019 3 Years for Japanese Fest 2022 in Tokyo Commemorative Bottle’. |
| 2023 | Limited quantity of ‘Togouchi Whisky HIROSHIMA’ released exclusively in Hiroshima Prefecture. Both malt and grain whiskies are distilled, stored, blended and bottled at SAKURAO DISTILLERY in “Blended Japanese whisky Togouchi PREMIUM”. SAKE CASK FINISH”, “BEER CASK FINISH” and “PEATED CASK FINISH” were released. Announced the construction of SAKURAO YOSHIWA WHISKY PARK (tentative name), which includes a new whisky distillery. |
6-2. Successive blenders
There is no specific master blender, and SAKURAO’s own joint research with the Hiroshima University Research Institute is underway to quantitatively support the sensory evaluation by identifying flavour components.
Therefore, even in tastings, we do not make absolute evaluations, but position our products strategically, comparing them with those of other companies.
Taihei Yamamoto, distillation manager
Graduated from the Department of Industrial Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Hiroshima University in 1998.
In the same year, he joined Chugoku Brewery Co Ltd and was assigned to the Product Development Section of the Production Department.
In 2006, he was appointed chief developer of the Product Development Section and was involved in the Sakurao distillery from the building design stage, selecting the production equipment.
He was also responsible for the development of Sakurao Gin.
Deputy General Manager of the Production Division, Head of Distillation, August 2018.
In October 2021, he was appointed General Manager of the Production Division, Head of Distillation.
7. List of other distilleries
