One of the most revered whisky producers on the planet has just won the top prize for an unprecedented fourth consecutive year. Find out what makes the liquid so special.
Earlier this month we told you all about the International Spirits Challenge and why it holds so much weight within the industry. Simply put: the stature of the judges involved, along with trust and integrity cultivated throughout its 31 year history.
And during that impressive run we have never seen a string of success quite like what we’re witnessing with Yamazaki. The iconic producer from the outskirts of Osaka just took home the top trophy in the Japanese whisky category – for an unprecedented fourth consecutive year.
The run began in 2023 with the exact same bottling: Yamazaki 25 Years Old. In 2024, the honor belonged to Yamazaki 12 and last year to Yamazaki 18. This spans the entirety of the brand’s age-stated core portfolio.
So, what exactly are they putting in the water over there in Osaka that accounts for this enduring mystique? It begins with what that water puts into the whisky…
Yamazaki – and its parent company, Suntory Global Spirits – actually take water quite seriously. The distillery sits at the foot of Mount Tennozan and it’s hardly happenstance that brought founder Shinjiro Torii here over a century ago when he was establishing the country’s first dedicated whisky house.
This is an area where three rivers come together to deliver some of the country’s softest and purest natural water. Yamazaki officially refers to this confluence as its “soul place.”
Minerals accumulated here lay the foundation for a richly-bodied malt that can withstand heavy oak maturation over prolonged periods of time. Which brings us to the award-winning quarter-century-old expression.
This particular juice was laid to rest across a combination of American, Spanish sherry, and Japanese Mizunara oak casks. When brought together after patient aging in this damp, forested micro-climate, chief blender Shinji Fukuyo brings to bottle a wondrous array of elegance and complexity.
From the dram you’ll detect a bouquet of cedar-smoldered plum. The palate is layered with ginger spice, dried persimmon, and tangy dark chocolate. A sustained finish holds dried stone fruit, which slowly yields to reveal a distant reverb of sandalwood incense.
It’s a far more nuanced affair than what was previously offered in a bottle of Yamazaki 25. Back in 2021 the formulation was tweaked to stray away from its former life as an unapologetic “sherry bomb.”
It was met with some resistance at the time, but this second ISC trophy in two years goes a long way in vindicating the decision.
“Yamazaki 25 Years Old was first introduced in 1999, and in 2021 we evolved the whisky to more intentionally express Tsukuriwake…and Tsukurikomi,” said Fukuyo in a written statement, referring to diversity of whisky-making and refinement, respectively. “[This award] affirms the continuity of our craftsmanship across generations and our unwavering commitment to creating whiskies that honor Yamazaki’s legacy while continuing to evolve.”
The official statement from the head ISC judge included the following effusive praising of the brand: “There’s a reason Yamazaki is so widely accepted as a global benchmark in quality whisky. The combination of texture and fruitiness, the multiple layers – it has everything happening within it to make me want just a little bit more.”
Suntory Spirits, for its part, also attained a little more from the folks at the ISC. It nabbed the title of Producer of the Year in the Japanese Whisky category – for a 7th consecutive year. Quite the achievement when considering that the style is more crowded with more competition from craft upstarts than ever before.
But even as the largest producer in the country, Suntory is working closely with smaller producers to help champion labeling standards as put forth by the Japan Spirits & Liqueurs Makers Association (JSLMA) back in 2024.
So if you were expecting the buzz around Japanese whisky to level off anytime soon, we wouldn’t recommend betting a bottle of Yamazaki 25 on such a result. That award-winning juice is virtually impossible to find on US shelves for under $5000.
Its 12-year-old counterpart, on the other hand, can be yours for a cool $160. As the judges at ISC have made clear – for four years running – you’re a winner no matter which one you choose.
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