Tomatin owner Takara Shuzo International announces global release of Kurokabegura New Make Spirit – Japanese Whisky News
Tomatin owner Takara Shuzo International announces global release of Kurokabegura New Make Spirit
Takara Shuzo International has announced the UK launch of Kurokabegura New Make Spirit, a highly limited early preview of Kurokabegura single malt Japanese whisky.
Distilled at the Kurokabegura distillery in the town of Takanabe-cho in Miyazaki, Japan by Takara Shuzo – owner of the historic Shirakawa Distillery in Japan – Kurokabegura New Make Spirit has been unveiled ahead of the launch of the first Kurokabegura single malt whisky, anticipated for release in the coming years.
Bottled at 63% ABV and presented in a slimline, premium glass decanter featuring Japanese brushwork calligraphy, known as shodo, this extraordinary new make spirit is characterised by its bold flavour, opening with a rich, sweet aroma with notes of raisins, banana and honey, and offering a deep and lingering maltiness on the palate.
Previously only available in Japan, Kurokabegura New Make Spirit is now distributed globally via the Tomatin online shop.
Whisky has been produced at Kurokabegura Distillery since 1982. With a legacy of excellence in Japanese shōchū production, Kurokabegura Distillery has earned global acclaim at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition and the International Wine & Spirit Competition.
The copper pot stills used to shape Kurokabegura New Make Spirit were crafted in Scotland by McMillan Coppersmiths and installed in 1979, with the stills’ design following the style of the Shirakawa distillery, located 200km north of Tokyo, where Japanese whisky was produced in the 1950s. Although Shirakawa closed in 2003, its spirit continues through this legacy.
A single parcel of Shirakawa was forgotten for decades, as the distillery moved on from whisky-making to produce more traditional Japanese spirits which gained popularity through the second half of the 20th century.
Tomatin managing director Stephen Bremner became fascinated by the history of Takara Shuzo’s whisky production, interviewing former employees and scouring the globe for documents relating to Shirakawa. He eventually tracked down not just the history of the distillery but also one last remaining parcel of single malt, which he located at Kurokabegura in 2019. Released in 2022, Shirakawa 1958 is thought to be the earliest known and rarest single vintage Japanese whisky ever bottled.
Takahiro Shimizu, Executive Officer at Takara Shuzo International, said: “Our team has dedicated years to mastering the art of cask maturation through our experience with crafting around 85 expressions of shōchū, each one contributing to our understanding of wood and time.
“Kurokabegura Distillery has a dedicated cooperage where each cask is carefully managed, restored and prepared. This close attention allows the whisky to mature under expert care and achieve its finest character. Our new make release is testament to the high quality of our spirit, demonstrating the starting point from which our whisky is crafted.”
Stephen Bremner, Managing Director at Tomatin Distillery, said: “Takara Shuzo’s quiet dedication to whisky-making at Kurokabegura Distillery is very similar to our own distillery ethos here in the Highlands, so forging a meaningful partnership over thousands of miles to bring Japanese new make to the rest of the world has been an incredible experience and follows on from the release of the world’s rarest Japanese single malt, Shirakawa 1958. We’re seeing an increasing number of whisky enthusiasts purchasing new make in anticipation of how it will evolve in the future, and I have no doubt Kurokabegura will surprise and delight in equal measure.”
Kurokabegura New Make Spirit is available to purchase from the Tomatin Distillery Visitor Centre and its online shop now, priced at £34 per 200ml bottle. It will also be available to sample and purchase at The Whisky Show at Old Billingsgate in London from 3-5 October 2025.
To purchase a bottle of Kurokabegura New Make Spirit, visit https://tomatin.com/shop/
For more information about Kurokabegura or Shirakawa, visit https://tomatin.com/kurokabegura
For more information about Takara Shuzo International, visit https://www.takara-intl.co.jp/en.
About Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd and Takara Shuzo International Co., Ltd
Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd. produces sake, other alcoholic beverages, and seasonings, including Shirakawa and Kurokabegura. It has been one of Japan’s leading manufacturers since 1842. In 1951, Takara Shuzo became one of only a handful of distilleries in Japan to produce malt whisky and it continued to do so uninterrupted until 1969. The vast majority of this malt whisky is used in Takara Shuzo’s flagship ‘King’ blended whisky brand.
Takara Shuzo International Co., Ltd. operates the company’s overseas alcoholic beverage business. In 1986, it acquired Tomatin Distillery in Scotland.
About Shirakawa Distillery
Shirakawa distillery was built by Daikoku Budoshu in the Fukushima Prefecture, 200km North of Tokyo, in 1939. Even though Shirakawa Distillery was one of the pioneers of malt whisky making in Japan, it was never officially available as a single malt. That category didn’t take off in Japan until the mid-80s, and by that time, Takara Shuzo’s focus lay elsewhere. The land where Shirakawa Distillery once sat was subsequently gifted by Takara Shuzo in 2011 to build emergency housing to accommodate the locals who had been displaced by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.
