Fuji Gotemba whiskies

History

Kirin, the big Japanese brewing group, opened the distillery at the beginning of the 1970s in collaboration with Seagram and the Scottish house Chivas Brothers, with the idea of combining the styles of Scotland, Canada and the United States. That is where its variety of stills comes from, both column stills and American and Scottish-type stills. For decades its whisky was sold mainly in Japan, in blends and limited-production malts. In the 2020s Kirin relaunched the Fuji brand for international markets, with grain whisky as the star.

House style

Fuji Gotemba’s great speciality is grain whisky, which it distils in different stills to obtain lighter or denser styles. Its Single Grain is delicate and silky, with tropical fruit, vanilla, honey and gentle spice, without smoke. The house also makes malt, with a fruity, elegant profile. It is a whisky best appreciated neat, without ice, so as not to lose its delicate nuances, and it shows that grain need not be mere filler in blends. The distillery is still little known outside Japan, but increasingly appreciated.

Where to start

Fuji Single Grain is the catalogue’s entry and a very good way to discover how delicate grain whisky can be. Compare it with The Chita, Suntory’s grain, and with Nikka Coffey Grain, to see three very different Japanese grain styles.

• Fuji Single GrainSingle grain · 46% ABV