A century in one story
In 1923 Shinjiro Torii built Yamazaki and hired Masataka Taketsuru, a chemist who had learned whisky in Scotland. When they parted, Taketsuru went north and founded Yoichi — and their companies, Suntory and Nikka, still define Japanese whisky. The style: Scottish method, Japanese precision — soft water, meticulous blending, and the incense-like signature of rare mizunara oak.
Japanese distilleries make many styles in-house (different stills, yeasts, peating levels) because — unlike Scotland — competitors rarely trade casks with each other.