Shirakawa 1958 comes in as the world's rarest Japanese whisky

The world’s rarest Japanese whisky, Shirakawa 1958 Single Malt Japanese Whisky from Takara Shuzo Co. Ltd. will be released and distributed worldwide by Tomatin Distillery Co. Ltd .from 13th September 2022.

Shirakawa 1958 is a single malt whisky from the lost Japanese distillery, Shirakawa, which was located 200 km north of Tokyo, Japan. The whisky produced was rumoured to be exquisite, but destined only for blending and never to be captured as a single malt until now, which has been done with a collaboration between Tomatin Distillery and Takara Shuzo. This remarkable and incredibly rare expression will be the only official single malt bottling from Shirakawa Distillery; limited to 1,500 bottles globally.

The Shirakawa Distillery was built in the Fukushima Prefecture, in 1939 by Daikoku Budoshu and purchased by Takara Shuzo in 1947. Operating for nearly six and a half decades, it produced malt whisky between 1951-1969; being one of the first distilleries in Japan to do so. The vast majority of the whisky produced was used in Takara Shuzo’s flagship ‘King’ blended whisky brand. The Shirakawa Distillery was demolished in 2003.

1,500 (70cl) bottles will be available from 13th September 2022 via tomatindistillery.com and selected retail partners worldwide including Harrods, Berry Bros, The Whisky Exchange & Royal Mile Whiskies. The RRP of each bottle will be £25,000.