Suntory Yamazaki Distillery
Figure 1. Whisky tastings at the Tasting Lounge
Note: Please book an appointment ahead of time and book it based on if you want the tour in English or Japanese. There are no walk-ins.
Tours are lottery-based so I recommend logging in during the lottery entry period (I believe 2 months before you are thinking of going). Yes please plan for this. Totally worth it though if you win the ticket!
Alright first off I absolutely loved this whisky distillery tour at the Suntory Yamazaki Distillery! I am a bit of a nerd and love educational tours so please don’t judge me hahaha. Nonetheless I highly recommend this fun tour. They recently renovated some parts of the area, and we were able to snag an appointment when they reopened.
The staff are amazing and sincere and will explain to you the process of whisky making in detail as well at the history of Suntory whisky in general. They have tours both in English and Japanese.
Figure 2. Whisky tastings
Figure 3. Tasting lounge (Must pay)
Figure 4. Whisky barrels
After the tour of showing you the process and its history, you will go do a tasting as seen in Figure 2. Then after the tasting you will have the opportunity to buy a whisky bottle (one per person) at a price way cheaper than you would be able to buy in most stores outside of Japan. Once the tour is over you can hang around the tasting lounge (Figure 3) for further tasting.
I will be honest, I am personally not the biggest whisky fan but I was still able to enjoy these since it was just so smooth to drink! My partner is an actual whisky enthusiast, so he went on to enjoy more at the Tasting lounge (Figure 1).
If you are looking for a comprehensive list of things to do in Japan, I highly recommend adding this unique experience! Even more so if you have a passion for whiskey tasting and particularly enjoy the rich flavors of Suntory whisky.
Again, I hope you make a reservation and enjoy the experience like we have! Please let me know your thoughts on this as well if you would like.
Note: Please book an appointment ahead of time and book it based on if you want the tour in English or Japanese. There are no walk-ins.
Tours are lottery-based so I recommend logging in during the lottery entry period (I believe 2 months before you are thinking of going). Yes please plan for this. Totally worth it though if you win the ticket!
Suntory Yamazaki Distillery
Location: 5 Chome-2-1 Yamazaki, Shimamoto, Mishima District, Osaka 618-0001, Japan
Directions: Here. Highly recommend to train it there and not drive since you will most likely be drinking! If you are in Kyoto, Osaka or Umeda area it’s easy to get there by train and walk for about 10 minutes.
Opening Hours:
For the general public to access souvenir shop and mini museum: 10am-4:45pm Everyday
For scheduled tours, please arrive 15-20 minutes before your scheduled tour starts
Website: Home Page
Reservations: Book here
