Japanese distillery launches first single malt

The ‘Komagatake Rindo’ is the first of a premium series released by Shinshu distillery in Nagano Prefecture.

Nestled in Nagano Prefecture a prime whisky producing region, the Shinshu distillery is at 798 meters above sea level and is surrounded by the ‘Japanese Alps’ which provide an excellent pure water source for whisky production.

Shinshu’s whisky is distilled in winter when temperatures can plummet to -15C and only uses water which has been naturally filtered through the granite rock.

The ‘Komagatake Rindo’ is the first offering in Shinshu’s new series, “The Nature of Shinshu”, a line of premium single malts produced by the distillery and is targeted at Hong Kong’s young whisky market which favours the more delicate styles of Japanese whisky over Scottish malts.

Shinshu’s production was halted in 1992 due to global sluggish demand for Japanese whisky but the 2007 recovery of the whisky market enabled the company to restart operations in 2011.

Following the launch in Japan in December, the ‘Komagatake Rindo’ will be released in Hong Kong this month and is available via AF Partners for HK$1,250.