Domain: Shirakawa

The Shirakawa distillery was founded in 1939 by Daikoku Budoshu before being sold to Takara Shuzo shortly afterwards in 1947. Takara Shuzo used the distillery to produce shochu, whisky and umeshu and it also produced malt whisky from 1951 to 1969, solely for use in its own blends. Takara Shuzo’s blended whisky brand was King Whisky, and only one of its bottlings bore the distillery’s name: King Whisky Shirakawa Pure Malt 12 Years Old (special grade, 43% ABV). The bottling is difficult to date precisely, but the reference to “special grade” suggests that it was released before the 1989 change in ABV. The distillery eventually ceased production and was demolished in 2003.