Have You Tried UMESKY Yet?

Saburomaru Distillery - the Only Distillery in the Hokuriku Region

Saburomaru Distillery is the only distillery in the Hokuriku region. Since the foundation in 1952, they have passed down our original ingredients and techniques, making whisky today with the same passion carried on since the beginning.

The distillery started out as Wakatsuru sake brewery in 1882. The Wakatsuru Saburomaru whisky distillery was born when the company obtained license to make whisky in 1952 on the watch of Kotaro Inagaki, son of the brewery's founder, because rice was difficult to get ahold of in post-war Japan.

However, after 60 years, the distillery became run down and Wakatsuru Brewery launched the Saburomaru Distillery Repair Project in 2016 and took on the challenge of crowd funding to secure the funds. With the support of many people, in July 2017, Saburomaru Distillery transformed itself into the only whisky distillery in Hokuriku that accepts visitors for a distillery tour.

The Unique UMESKY

Umesky is a unique blend of whisky and ume fruits. Every July unripe ume is steeped in the whisky made in the distillery, slowly drawing out the sweetness and sourness of ume. Ume is harvested in Toyama prefecture and it is steeped for around a year in the whisky.

The result is hard to describe but the delicate aroma of ume and the smooth whiskey are the characteristics of Umesky. At the first sip, you will feel the acidity of ume (which is a little bit stronger that regular umeshu), and then the smooth taste of whisky will follow soon after.