A Luxury Whiskey Tasting Day Trip To Do Before You Die – Yamazaki Suntory Distillery

The Yamazaki Suntory Distillery resides in a sleepy suburb with a convenient rail station, an easy day trip from Kyoto. Depart from Kyoto Kawaramachi Station on the Hankyu-Kyoto Line Limited Express towards Osaka-Umeda. Your stop is Ōyamazaki Station. Once out of the station it’s a 1km walk to the distillery. On our particular mid-May morning it was full sun and hot. The road was narrow, residential, and gave us a glimpse into the quiet life of the more rural side of suburban Japan. Ordered and clean, with beautiful ferns happily growing out of canal-like runoff gutters. Seriously, I thought we’d see koi floating along the road, the runoff was so clean. I digress. On to the booze and the elegant presentation of the history thereof.

Arriving at Suntory

Upon arriving for our free self-guided tour (reserved months in advance on the official website) we checked in and proceeded to the well laid-out, high design exhibits detailing the history of Suntory. Even though we had reserved this free self-guided tour far in advance it was not our first choice. The paid, guided tours that include the production facilities sell out as soon as they are released. We were lucky to find a slot at all.

Pro Tip:

Reserve this engagement early in your planning to obtain a most desired time slots and guided tours. The Suntory Distillery website is easy to use.

Whiskey Tasting

After viewing the exhibits and rows and rows of blending whiskeys labeled with dates easily spanning our own lifetimes and beyond we arrived at the tasting room. Even on the free tour you are allowed to spend some time and money to taste not only the final products, but far more interestingly the various elements of the famous blends. For example, my favorite was the bottle simply labeled Mizunara. Mizunara is a type of oak tree, native to Japan. The wood from the mizunara tree is highly prized by whiskey producers, as it imparts unique flavors and aromas to the whiskey that cannot be found in other types of oak. Its porous nature allows the whiskey to penetrate deeply into the wood and extract its flavors. Known for its high tannin content, it imparts a sweet and vanilla-like aroma to the whiskey. 

Unfortunately, there is no restaurant onsite at the distillery and since we had the first tour slot of the day, 10AM, we were starved. This paired with a raucous night of drinking the night before, no breakfast before the train, and that nice 1 km stroll left us calorically deficient, dehydrated, and more than a little hungover for our once-in-a-lifetime 11AM straight whiskey flights. Prioritize breakfast, pack snacks, be proactive.

Like good adventuring nomads, we soldiered on and managed to savor and enjoy every sip. #hairofthedog #kanpai  

Exiting trough the giftshop we did find nice little bags of seasoned nuts and some beef jerky which fortified us on the walk back to the train station.

Local Snack and the Walk Back to the Train

Desperate for real food, as it was now noon, and we were full tilt on fine whiskeys, we spotted a red banner, simmering like an oasis in the desert. 

Behind the red banner that hung over the entrance was a no-frills okonomiyaki restaurant eager to welcome us and satiate our hunger. Okonomiyaki is like an omelet with a Japanese twist. You cook it yourself (or they help) on the griddle at your table and you can choose an endless combination of ingredients. This spot is a true neighborhood local spot – and it was delicious. Make sure to include the bonito flakes.

Restaurant

お好み焼き 山喜 Japan, 〒618-0071 Kyoto, Otokuni District, Oyamazaki, Myojima−１８Google Map