Hakata

Hakata is a range of sherry cask-matured whiskies distilled from barley by the Hikari Shuzo Distillery in Fukuoka, Japan. The origins of the distillery date back to 1912 with the founding of the Mitsuyasu Shuzo sake brewery. In 1959, Hikari Shuzo’s shochu distillery was built next door to the brewery where it has been distilling Hakata-style barley shochu ever since.

Over twenty years ago, Hikari Shuzo’s now-retired President and Master Distiller, Naoki Mitsuya, laid the groundwork for Hakata when his love for sherry inspired him to personally source ex–Oloroso sherry casks. Without any true agenda, he filled these casks with Hikari Shuzo’s Hakata-style barley shochu and rested them at the distillery where the shochu slowly matured into Hakata whisky. Today, legendary shochu and whisky producer Chizuru Fukano sources and brokers Hakata’s sherry casks and acts as liaison for importer ImpEx Beverages.

Hakata starts as a traditional Hakata-style shochu (sometimes referred to as Fukuoka-style shochu and accounting for about 75% of shochu production), distilled from two-row barley locally grown in Kyushu. Each batch begins by washing, briefly soaking, and steaming one-third of the barley, then inoculating it with white koji (Aspergillus oryzae) to ferment for one week. This koji-fermented barley is then combined with the remaining two-thirds unmalted barley for an additional two weeks. This long koji fermentation—known as multiple parallel fermentation in sake and shochu—saccharifies and ferments the barley simultaneously, replacing the traditional malting process used in malt whisky.

After a single distillation in stainless steel pot stills, spirit destined to become Hakata whisky is placed in sherry barrels and aged for a minimum of ten years. The result is a unique, decadent whisky with a double hit of umami from koji fermentation and extended sherry cask maturation that shows dramatic transformation with each ascending age statement.