YUZA Distillery

About the distillery

The YUZA Distillery is located in Yuzamachi, Mogami District, Yamagata Prefecture, at the foot of Mount Chokai and in what is known as 湧水の里. It is Yamagata’s first Japanese whisky distillery, and it works from a clearly place-based starting point: the beautiful伏流水, the changing seasons, and an ambition to create whisky that can only be made here.

History

The YUZA Distillery was established in 2018, with October 2018 as the official founding month. The process leading up to production is clearly marked: construction began on October 25, 2017, pot stills were opened and moved in on July 6, 2018, the whisky production license was secured on September 27, and on October 11 commissioning began with Forsyths. On October 19 the distillery was completed, and on November 1, 2018, whisky production began.

In February 2022 came First edition 2022, and later that same year followed Second edition 2022. In November 2022 the third warehouse building was expanded. After that came YUZA 2023, Third edition 2023, Spring in Japan 2024, YUZA 2024, Classical Blend, Signature Blend, Aged 6 Years, YUZA 2025, YUZA 2026 and Fairy in Summer. Along the way, several releases won international awards, including for First edition 2022, Second edition 2022, YUZA 2023 and Third edition 2023. In April 2026 the distillery began accepting members of the general public for visits.

Raw materials and production

The distillery works with single malt as its main track, and the company describes its business as distilling, producing and selling whisky with a focus on single malt. The range also includes blended whisky, where both malt and grain are involved, and where Japanese raw materials are used in multiple expressions. Most important in the documented material is the raw-material pattern and the house’s relationship to the place: malt is the foundation of single malt, while the blends use Japanese grain together with the distillery’s own malt whiskies.

The products are labeled as Japanese whisky according to the applicable standards, and the distillery’s style is built on selecting its own matured raw distillates rather than on heavy technical descriptions. Several releases are composed of specially selected casks from the early production periods, including from 2018–2019. This gives an image of a distillery that develops its own signature through selection, blending and gradual maturation, rather than through a large number of different process differences that are not described in the material.

Maturation and cask types

Maturation takes especially the form of bourbon barrels, first-fill bourbon barrels, sherry casks and mizunara. YUZA 2023 and YUZA 2024 are selected from bourbon-matured whisky, while Spring in Japan 2024 combines first-fill bourbon with sherry. Third edition 2023 uses mizunara together with bourbon and sherry, and Fairy in Summer is built on mizunara-matured whisky. In Signature Blend, mizunara is given room alongside the house’s other malt components, and Classical Blend is put together exclusively from domestic matured raw distillates with mizunara as the key malt. The expansion of the third warehouse building shows that cask maturation and maturation play a major role in the distillery’s development.

Whiskies

The range is built around a recurring single malt series and a number of special editions. YUZA 2024, YUZA 2025 and YUZA 2026 make up the core character of the house: matured in bourbon barrels, 51 percent, and with the same clean, fruity signature. In addition comes YUZA Aged 6 Years as a stronger cask strength expression and limited editions such as Spring in Japan 2024 and Fairy in Summer. On the blend side, Signature Blend and Classical Blend show that the distillery also works with Japanese grain and mizunara in more rounded, complex whiskies. Together, they form a range where fruit, sweetness, wood and occasional smoky notes repeat across types and vintages.

Whisky style and flavor profile

The style is consistently clean, sweet and fruity. Several expressions highlight vanilla, honey and fruity sweetness as a base tone, while others add apricot, apple and pear together with a soft, creamy structure. Limited editions add even more layers with dried fruit, caramelized depth, blossoming fruitiness, a mizunara character, and a fresh, lightly peated nuance in the blend. This makes YUZA a distillery with a clear, bright, fruit-forward signature, which can still unfold in more complex directions.

Visit the distillery

From April 1, 2026, the public can come for regular visitor reception. The distillery has also provided contact information via telephone, fax and a mail reception for inquiries, so visitors can contact the distillery directly. Fixed opening hours, booking requirements, guided tours or tastings are not described in the available text, but it is clear that visits are now part of the distillery’s public activities.

Philosophy and craftsmanship

The core is the formulation: ”遊佐でしかつくれない、ウイスキーをつくろう。” It is closely tied to the place, to the beautiful伏流水 from the foot of Mount Chokai, and to the long local tradition of酒づくり. The distillery works with single malt as its focus, but also develops blends with Japanese grain and the house’s own malt whiskies. The philosophy is therefore clearly rooted in place: the place, the water, the climate and the selected casks together must shape a whisky with its own identity.

Prices and recognitions

• テイスティングアワード GOLD (2022, GOLD, YUZA First edition 2022)

• テイスティングアワード SILVER (2023, SILVER, YUZA Second edition 2022)

• スモールバッチ・シングルモルト部門 BRONZE (2023, BRONZE, YUZA First edition 2022)

• テイスティングアワード GOLD (2024, GOLD, YUZA 2023)

• テイスティングアワード GOLD (2024, GOLD, YUZA Third edition 2023)

• シングルモルト部門 BRONZE (2024, BRONZE, YUZA Third edition 2023)

• シングルモルト部門 CATEGORY-WINNER (2024, Category Winner, YUZA Medium Peated 2023 Spring)

• シングルモルト部門 GOLD (2024, GOLD, YUZA Medium Peated 2023 Spring)

• 優良申告法人として表彰 (2025, Awarded)