Suntory launches cross-distillery Tsukuriwake series

House of Suntory has announced the launch of the 2024 Tsukuriwake Series featuring an expression from the Hakushu distillery for the first time.

Suntory’s 2024 Tsukuriwake series is the second time the series has been released, the first iteration being in 2022.

The Tsukuriwake Series has previously focused on the casks matured in the lands of Yamazaki. This year, the Japanese distillery has chosen to add a whisky from the Hakushu distillery to the collection, making it a cross-distillery series for the first time.

Whiskies included in the 2024 release are Yamazaki Golden Promise, Yamazaki Islay Peated Malt, Hakushu 18 Year Old Peated Malt, and Yamazaki 18 Year Old Mizunara.

Yamazaki Golden Promise is made from golden promise barley, a grain cultivated in Scotland in the 1960s. Distilled in Japan since 2009 and aged in American Oak casks, it has been added to Yamazaki 12 Year Old.

Yamazaki 18 Year Old Mizunara (2024 Tsukuriwake Edition) introduces a limited-edition label for Suntory’s flagship Yamazaki 18 Year Old Mizunara, using Mizunara oak: a Japanese oak notoriously difficult to work with, the company has said.

Hakushu 18 Year Old Peated Malt (2024 Tsukuriwake Edition) introduces a limited-edition label for Suntory’s celebrated Hakushu 18 Year Old Peated Malt. It enables the House of Suntory to produce more than 100 different malt whiskies.

All four expressions have been developed by Suntory’s fifth generation chief blender Shinji Fukuyo following last year’s milestone 100th Anniversary of pioneering Japanese whisky

Tsukuriwake (pronounced soo-koo-ree-wah-keh) means ‘artisanship through a diversity of making’. Two of the whiskies in the series, the Yamazaki 18-Year-Old Mizunara and Hakushu 18-Year-Old Peated Malt, launched last year for the House of Suntory’s 100th anniversary. These flagship whiskies have been re-released under limited-edition labels within the 2024 Tsukuriwake Series following popularity among consumers, the company has said.