Hanyu

Hanyu Distillery was situated north of Tokyo, Japan and began producing whisky in the 1980s but closed in 2000 and was demolished in 2004. This family business was established in 1626 by the Akuto family who were originally sake-makers in the town of Chichibu.

Ownership changed hands and the new management decided to get rid of the stocks of maturing malts and the distillation facilities. Fortunately, a sake maker from northern Japan, Sasanokawa Shuzo, came to the rescue of Hanyu Distillery and agreed to take over the stocks and production facilities at this critical time. Subsequently Ichiro Akuto, the grandson of the founder of the Hanyu Distillery, established a new company called Venture Whisky to again produce single malt whisky.

Akuto-san has started to gather together the pot stills, a mill and washbacks needed to start production again. The new distillery will emphasise traditional skills and craftsmanship and operate on a small scale in terms of production.