Akkeshi is Japan's answer to Islay, and the resemblance is deliberate down to the weather. Founder Keiichi Toita of Kenten Jitsugyo had been exporting Japanese whisky since 2010 and wanted to bottle his own — but Japanese law requires even bottlers to hold a distilling license, so he went all the way and built a distillery. He chose Akkeshi, a remote oyster town on the eastern coast of Hokkaido, further east than any other distillery in the country, specifically because it matches Islay: cool and foggy, with sea mist rolling off the Bekanbeushi wetlands, temperatures swinging from -20°C in winter to summer highs in the mid-20s, and peat bogs on the doorstep. Even the water from the Homakai River passes through a layer of peat. When distillation began in October 2016, it was the first new whisky distillery in Hokkaido in around 80 years. The equipment came from Forsyths in Scotland, the malt from Scotland too — though the distillery is steadily moving toward Hokkaido-grown barley, locally harvested peat, and Hokkaido Mizunara oak for an entirely local whisky. The New Born Foundations series showcased the young spirit; the first true single malt, Sarorunkamuy (Ainu for "Japanese crane"), arrived in 2020. Since then the distillery has released tiny, seasonal batches named for the 24 solar terms of the traditional East Asian calendar — Kanro, Boshu, Usui, Keichitsu, and onward — each unique, each carrying the house signature of briny freshness and gentle peat. Genuinely rare, genuinely collectible.

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