The base of Japanese whisky production is modelled on the production methods employed in Scotland but with many changes and refinements along the way, making the distilleries there much more adaptable.
Japanese whisky has taken the world by storm in the last decade but it is not a new industry. The first distillery, Yamazaki, was built in Japan in 1923 and still produces whisky today.
The beginnings of Japanese whisky can really be boiled down to the passion of two men: Masataka Taketsuru and Shinjiro Torii. In 1918 Masataka Taketsuru travelled to Scotland to study at Glasgow University. After this he travelled and worked for several Scottish distilleries including Longmorn and Hazelburn. During this time he met his wife Rita, who hailed from Kirkkintilloch, and in 1920 they left for Japan together. Taketsuru would go onto work for the company that would become Suntory.
Suntory was owned by Shinjiro Torii who wanted to build Japan's first whisky distillery and in 1923 Yamazaki distillery was opened and Masataka Taketsuru was employed as the distillery manager. After several years at Yamazaki, Masataka struck out on his own and built a distillery on the Japanese Island of Hokkaido, the site he originally wanted for Yamazaki. He thought this Island was the most similar site to Scotland in Japan and would yield the best results when making whisky. Yoichi distillery became the basis of the other major producer of Japanese whisky: Nikka.
To this day Suntory and Nikka are the biggest producers of whisky in Japan. The two competitors will not sell any whisky to each other, as is the common practice in Scotland, so to make sure they have a catalogue of flavours for blending they make several different styles of whisky at each distillery. In one distillery they may produce a light, fresh, malty whisky one day and a heavy, peaty, oily whisky the next and this a practice that sets Japanese whisky apart. Using different cuts, yeasts, distilling lengths and maturations means that Japanese companies have complete autonomy when creating their blends.
Japanese distillers have also put their own stamp on maturation by using casks made from slow growing Japanese Mizunara oak and maturing whiskies in barrels that have previously contained Umeshu, which is a traditional Plum Liqueur.