From sake brewery to Sakurao Brewery and Distillery: one hundred years of Hiroshima
The story begins on October 8, 1918, in the coastal town of Sakurao, Hatsukaichi—on the opposite side of the bay of Itsukushima, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Founded under the name Chugoku Shurui Jozo, the house produced sake, shochu, and mirin in its first decades. As early as 1920, it acquired a whisky distilling license—at a time when this was hardly conceivable in Japan. The early attempt at single malt failed in the 1980s when the Japanese whisky market collapsed; the company switched to imported goods and blended purchased distillates. This break proved to be a pause for thought: with stricter Japanese whisky labeling laws requiring production exclusively on Japanese soil, the house decided to restart. In 2017, it opened the SAKURAO DISTILLERY at its historic headquarters, and in 2021, it was officially renamed Sakurao Brewery and Distillery Co., Ltd.
Monotsukuri on the Seto Inland Sea: craftsmanship, water, and two aging climates
The philosophy of the house can be aptly summarized with the Japanese term monotsukuri—craftsmanship as a continuous process. The brewing and blending water comes from the Oze River in Hiroshima Prefecture. Since 2023, the distillery has sourced its barley from the Hiroshima cultivation region of Sera, underscoring its consistently local approach. The distillation plant combines technology from Hungary and Germany with Japanese engineering: a modified pot-still swan neck specifically retains more esters in the distillate, a hybrid still handles the second distillation and achieves higher alcohol yields with pronounced fruitiness. Double distillation ensures a particularly round character.
What distinguishes Sakurao from most distilleries is its dual aging concept. The Sakurao brand whiskies are stored in barrels on the coast of the Seto Inland Sea, where humid sea air and mild temperature fluctuations shape their character. The Togouchi line matures in a former railway tunnel in the Chugoku Mountains—cool, constant, its own rhythm. Both conditions arise from the same distillate, yet form fundamentally different aromatic worlds.
Coastal whisky, mountain air barrel storage, and gin from Hiroshima
For its centenary in 2018, Sakurao first launched a gin—exclusively with botanicals from Hiroshima, including hand-picked juniper berries from the region. The Sakurao Gin Limited won a Gold Outstanding at the International Wine and Spirit Competition (IWSC) that same year and put the house on the international map before the first whiskies were even bottled. In 2021, the single malts followed: Sakurao matures in four types of barrels—bourbon, American white oak, sherry, and Mizunara barrels made from Japanese oak from Hokkaido. In addition to the classic single malt, the range also includes special bottlings with special barrel finishes, including a Sauternes cask finish. Our range includes the Sakurao Single Malt as well as the Sakurao Sauternes Cask Japanese Single Malt Whisky—both consistently Japanese and uncompromisingly rooted in Hiroshima.
