1883

FIRST, THEY BREWED FOR THE GODS.

The Hiyoki Distillery, the parent of Kanosuke Distillery, has long been connected to Hiyoshi Town in Hioki City, an area rich with the natural beauty of Fukiagehama and mountains. The Komasa family, the founders, originally made sacred sake for Hachiman Shrine in Hiyoshi Town. Rooted in the local history and culture, the family has continuously pursued innovation while overcoming the challenges of changing times.

1957

THE WORLD'S FIRST CASK-AGED SHOCHU.

The family's second generation and master distiller, Kanosuke Komasa, was born 1918. At the age of 19, he returned from the battlefield and began to pour his heart and soul into making shochu. At the time, shochu was still thought of as a cheap, crude drink. Seeking to free it from that reputation, Kanosuke immersed himself in the studing domestic and international distilling methods. And that's when he learned how long-aging enriches the flavour of whisky and other distilled liquors. After much trial and error, Kanosuke began aging his rice shochu in oak barrels for six months. This is how "Mellowed Kozuru," Japan's first-ever long-aged rice shochu, was born.

1975

KANOSUKE KOMASA'S UNFINISHED DREAM.

Kaminokawa in the town of Hioki. KANOSUKE DISTILLERY stands here, on land purchased by Kanosuke in the late 70's. From these plans, one can see that he envisioned the construction of a distillery on Kaminokawa devoted exclusively to making Mellowed Kozuru. The storage structure visible on the right hand side was the only part of the plans to be built and can be seen at the distillery today, matching the plans almost perfectly. Mellowed Kozuru has been stored and aged here ever since, surrounded by views of the gentle sea.

1998

MAKING A JAPANESE WHISKY THAT WILL CHANGE THE WORLD.

For many years, it was the wish of everyone involved in the making of shochu that this important part of Kagoshima's local culture could be shared with the rest of the world. The Komasa family's third generation, Yoshifumi Komasa, has particularly focused his efforts on extending the family business overseas. But while the beverage industry has established the value of Mellowed Kozuru and other shochu by recognizing them with big global prizes, shochu's profile outside of Japan is still largely limited to its availability in Japanese restaurants. Yoshifumi became especially aware of the worldwide adoration of whisky, and it frustrated him that shochu had failed to attain similar recognition. The fourth generation and master blender, Yoshitsugu Komasa, specialized his graduate studies in fermentation. He further deepened his knowledge when he joined a number of other master distillers on a tour of whisky distilleries in Scotland and around the world.

2017

KANOSUKE KOMASA'S UNFINISHED DREAM.

In honor of the Komasa family's second generation, who never shied away from innovation and worked tirelessly to craft drinks that would bring people joy, this new whisky distillery was named "KANOSUKE DISTILLERY." Just like Kanosuke, who, all those years ago, aged his shochu in pursuit of deeper flavour, KANOSUKE DISTILLERY's aim is to craft a whisky that the whole world can enjoy. They believe that their whisky will bring more people to discover their shochu, which is crafted using the similar techniques.

2021-

MAKING A JAPANESE WHISKY THAT WILL CHANGE THE WORLD.

In 2021, KANOSUKE DISTILLERY partnered with Distill Ventures, an accelerator supporting entrepreneurs who work to create and expand beverage brands. Their program connected KANOSUKE with capital from beverage giant Diageo, which has enabled the distillery to enhance their international sales network, strengthen their marketing activities, and more proactively develop new products. Diageo is home to many superior beverage brands, such as Johnnie Walker and Smirnoff, but this is their first-ever partnership with a Japanese whisky distillery. With their support and expertise, KANOSUKE DISTILLERY aims to become a globally-recognized brand.