We reviewed Hakushu 25 Year Old almost two years ago, but what about the rest of the distillery’s core range? Today, I’m filling in that gap with four bottlings: the Hakushu Distiller’s Reserve, the 12 Year Old, and two versions of the classic 18 Year Old. Together, they should provide a useful overview of Hakushu’s house style across different age statements—from the fresher, younger profile of the Distiller’s Reserve through to the more mature, fruit-led and gently smoky character of the 18 Year Old. And since we’ve never properly introduced Hakushu Distillery, we’ll begin with some history.
Hakushu Distillery
Hakushu is Suntory’s second malt-whisky distillery, founded in 1973 in the Southern Japanese Alps of Yamanashi Prefecture. It is a large and unusually flexible production site: the current active facility uses 16 pot stills and has estimated capacity around 3.5–4 million litres annually, while its historic peak configuration made it one of the world’s largest malt distilleries.
Hakushu lies at approximately 700 metres above sea level in Hokuto, Yamanashi Prefecture, at the foot of Mount Kaikomagatake in the Southern Alps. Suntory calls it the “mountain forest distillery”; its campus occupies about 820,000 square metres, or 82 hectares, and sits within dense forest. It was built under Keizo Saji, Suntory’s second president, fifty years after Yamazaki. The purpose was both practical and strategic: Japanese whisky demand was growing rapidly, and Suntory wanted capacity beyond Yamazaki as well as a contrasting distillation environment and spirit style. Production began in February 1973.
Hakushu expanded aggressively in its early years: In 1973, the original distillery started with 12 pot stills — six wash stills and six spirit stills. Then, in 1977, Suntory added a second production unit, bringing the total to 24 stills, four mash tuns and 44 washbacks; at that point, it was described as the world’s largest whisky distillery. Four years later in 1981, Hakushu East, the third production unit, opened. However, in the late 1980s, demand collapsed across Japanese whisky, and the older Hakushu West facilities were progressively mothballed. Grain production column stills were added to the complex in 2010, but the production only began in 2013. Finally, in 2014, two additional pairs of pot stills were installed at Hakushu East, bringing the active malt still count to 16.
The active plant is Hakushu East. Sources vary slightly on output because capacity and actual production are not the same thing, but the most commonly reported annual figure is around 3.5–4 million litres of pure alcohol.
The still room is one of Hakushu’s key technical assets. The active stills vary in size and profile, including straight-sided and lantern-shaped examples, with different heating methods. That allows Suntory to make multiple malt spirit styles at one site instead of treating Hakushu as a single, mechanically fixed recipe.
Water is central to Hakushu’s identity. The distillery draws on snowmelt and groundwater filtered through the granite of the Southern Alps, an environment Suntory has actively protected through its long-running natural-water stewardship programmes. The cool highland setting and forest cover are part of the production context, although the final whisky is ultimately shaped by many variables beyond geography alone.
Hakushu is more than a production plant: the site includes a visitor centre, whisky museum and bird sanctuary. Suntory established the bird sanctuary alongside the distillery in 1973, and the wider site has long been used to demonstrate the company’s water and forest conservation work. The distillery completed a major renewal programme around its 50th anniversary in 2023–24. Suntory said the work introduced new production processes and updated the visitor experience, including revised distillery tours and refurbished visitor facilities.
Hakushu Distiller’s Reserve (2020s) Review
Hakushu Distiller’s Reserve is produced at Suntory’s Hakushu distillery, established in 1973 in the forests of Japan’s Southern Alps. It is a single malt made from 100% malted barley and bottled at 43% ABV without an age statement. Suntory does not mention anything regarding colouring nor chill filtration. The French network of shops Le Comptoir Irlandais mentions this recipe, but I could not confirm it elsewhere: heavily peated whisky, aged about 12 years in bourbon barrels to bring hints of smoke, young whiskies under 10 years old, slightly peated and matured in bourbon barrels, and whiskies older than 18 years old matured in American white oak barrels. This might have been true when it was initially released, but the recipe could have changed since then, especially with the shortages of old stock. Expect to pay from £65 a bottle in the UK, and from €85 in Europe.
Colour:
Jonquille.
Nose:
Neat: Immediately fresh and green: peppermint, cucumber, green apple and green pear are the hallmark notes. Pine needles, freshly cut grass, basil, thyme, leafy herbs and a faint white-floral lift. Underneath sit melon and vanilla. A subtle wisp of damp, floral smoke appears after air, but it is clearly a background detail rather than the defining aroma.
Palate:
Neat: The palate is crisp, medium-bodied and tangy. Yuzu, grapefruit, lemon zest and lemon thyme bring the opening brightness, joined by green apple, pear, white peach and ripe melon. The middle palate adds vanilla biscuit, spices (nutmeg, ginger, white pepper) and soft oak. Fresh mint, basil, menthol and green leaves provide an herbal character, with mild peat smoke, soot and a faint salty-mineral edge appearing in the background.
Finish:
The finish is medium in length. The fruit and sweetness fade first, leaving spearmint, fresh-cut grass, herbal smoke, and lemon peel.
Comments:
Like so many of Suntory’s bottlings, it is a shame this Hakushu is reduced to 43% ABV, as I am sure it would show more intensity and even more developed flavours at a higher ABV, and without the probable chill filtration.
Rating: 6/10
Hakushu 12-Year-Old (Early 2020s) Review
Hakushu 12 Year Old is a 100% malted-barley Japanese single malt, aged a minimum of 12 years and bottled at 43% ABV. The whisky combines Hakushu’s different malt styles, including lightly peated components, with a maturation program centred on American oak. Suntory does not disclose the exact recipe, proportions of peated versus unpeated spirit, cask inventory, vintage composition, filtration policy or colouring policy. Hakushu 12 disappeared from many markets during Suntory’s age-statement shortage, then returned in limited allocation. It remains substantially harder to find than Distiller’s Reserve, and retail pricing varies widely, from £135 in the UK, €150-200 in Europe, and $150 in the USA.
Colour:
Burnished.
Nose:
Neat: The nose is freshand starts with green apple, pear, mint, pine needles, cut grass and leafy bracken form the recognisable Hakushu core. Honeydew melon, lemon, grapefruit and white peach add brightness, while vanilla cream, barley and light honey provide a rounder base. Soft smoke and gentle earthy peat sit behind the fruit.
Palate:
Neat: The palate is lightly oily and sweet at entry, with pears (lots of them), apple, honey, vanilla custard and dried fruit. It then turns fresher and more herbal: mint, green tea, leafiness, yuzu and a light vegetal peat. The smoke is subtle, appearing as light woodsmoke, smoked apricot or a mild ashiness.
Finish:
Medium length, lively and dry, carrying honey, lemon zest, ginger, cinnamon and mint. The smoke becomes slightly more noticeable at the end, joined by green te and polished oak.
Comments:
This Hakushu 12-Year-Old is a lovely dram, that suffered from the shortage and the price explosion that followed. At less than €80 a bottle it was really nice, at twice that price, there are way better alternatives. But by itself, this is a really nice dram I like to revisit, and I really hope I get to visit the Hakushu distillery in the future.
Rating: 6.5/10
Hakushu 18-Year-Old (late 2010s) Review
Hakushu 18 Year Old is Suntory’s mature single-malt expression from its Hakushu distillery in Japan’s Southern Alps. Lit its younger siblings, it is bottled at 43% ABV, with no mention regarding the colour or chill filtration. Suntory does not disclose the precise cask breakdown for this bottling, but retail and specialist accounts commonly describe long maturation in American and European oak. This older bottling is most probably sold out.
Colour:
Russet.
Nose:
Neat: The nose starts with ripe orchard fruit is the anchor: Williams pear, peach, honeydew, mango and light hints of pineapple. The fruit is more rounded and mature than Hakushu 12, surrounded by dark honey, vanilla, soft cereal, dried mint and fresh oregano. Of course, there is also the distinctly forest-like character: pine needles, moss, freshly mown meadow, cedar, sandalwood-like aged wood and a gentle waft of smoke. However, the nose feels a bit shy and is less intense than the Hakushu 12.
Palate:
Neat: The palate is silky and oily, beginning with honey, ripe pear and melon before widening into mango, quince, citrus and candied fruit. The palate is rounder, deeper and less sharp, but oakier than Hakushu 12, with vanilla, oak polish, cinnamon, white pepper and a restrained herbal freshness. The peat is subtle, like a distant peat fire, noble wood smoke, light ash, and a bitter smoked-tea thread. Sesame crackers, moss, earth and sandalwood bring some bitterness.
Finish:
Long, elegant and gradually drier: mature fruit, dried mint, gentle smoke, polished oak, jasmine and a small bitter edge persist. The final impression is cooling rather than heavy—menthol, pine, herbs and sweet smoke over a soft echo of mango, quince and dark honey.
Comments:
This ‘old’ Hakushu 18 clearly shares family links to the younger Distiller’s Reserve and 12-year-old, but the extra maturation strangely way more wood than you’d expect, and of the bitter sort.
Rating: 6.5/10
Hakushu 18-Year-Old (2024) Review
The recent regular release carries the familiar 18-year age statement, 43% ABV and 700 ml format. It was originally introduced in 2006 as Hakushu’s mature permanent expression and remains distinct from the 2024 Hakushu 18 Year Peated Malt, which is a higher-strength, separately positioned bottling. Current prices for Hakushu 18-year-old are quite high: from €475 in Germany, but usually around €600-700 in Europe, £600 in the UK, and $550 in the USA.
Colour:
Burnished.
Nose:
Neat: The nose opens on orchard fruits again—ripe pear, green grape, melon and peach—alongside tropical mango, orange zest and light florals. Dried mint, pine needles, meadow hay, old tea-shop aromas and a soft woodland smoke establish its forest identity. As it opens, sherry-led notes become clearer: raisins, walnut, nutty sweetness, dark chocolate and polished old oak. Gentle incense, sandalwood, cedar and Mizunara-like spice add depth, while the smoke remains soft, dry and discreet.
Palate:
Neat: Rich and unusually full-bodied for 43%, with melon, orchard fruit and toasted meringue at the opening. Honey, vanilla, subtle citrus and ripe tropical fruit give it sweetness, but the core is more mature and earthy: bark, grass, dark chocolate, nuts and refined oak. The palate becomes cooler and more forested with time: pine, menthol, mint, dried herbs and mild peat smoke. Sherry casks provide nutty, gently dried-fruit complexity, while Mizunara wood contributes sandalwood, incense and restrained spice. The smoke is more obvious aromatically than on the palate, acting as a dry, elegant thread rather than a major flavour.
Finish:
The finish is long, cool and composed, carried by mint, grass, pine, dry herbs and a faint salty breeze. Mature fruit and subtle smoke linger underneath, with an elegant bitterness resembling tea leaf, cedar and citrus pith.
Comments:
Well, now I find the Hakushu 18-year-old I like again, with an intertwine of orchard fruits, soft herbal smoke and forest aromas. This Hakushu shows elegance and maturity, what you’d expect from this age from Hakushu. If only the price was not crazy expensive…