SHINOBU DISTILLERY is located in Niigata Prefecture, surrounded by Sea of Japan and beautiful mountains. Niigata is praised for its three “white treasures” the Snow, Rice, and Sake. Our founder and Master Blender, Mr, Ken Usami, believes that this is the dreamed place for distilling the best Japanese craft whisky, thus started establishing the first distillery in Niigata. As the word “SHINOBU” in Japanese, Mr. Usami believes the “forbearance” and “patience” is the most crucial element of making quality whisky, and the whisky itself is the essence of time. In 2017, the Japanese government granted Mr. Usami the first whisky distilling license in Niigata Prefecture, to praise the passion and innovation that SHINOBU Whisky showcased. Because of the high demand, we are expanding the existing distillery and constructing another new distillery in 2021. The new expansion distillery will include two tailor-made pot stills, 3000L and 2000L respectively, ordered from Carl GmbH in Germany. The second Shinobu Distillery will be located in “Tsugawa” area, and will install two smaller distillers, 2000L and 1500L, and use geothermal heat from nearby hot spring for distillation.