Suntory Hakushu Distillery — Restaurant in Hokuto

We visited in November 2024. Firstly, we arrived from Matsumoto by train on the way to Tokyo. The shuttle bus left within a minute of the train arrival, so putting our luggage in a locker forced us to miss the bus. That's fine, we got a taxi which was actually very pleasant. Upon arrival, we were warmly greeted by the friendly staff. This is about where the good times end.

When we got to the museum, we were told to download the audio guide. They said there was wifi, but there was nothing. I held up my phone to show while I asked the staff, and they just shrugged and looked confused. So we had very limited information for the self guided museum tour. Still... not the end of the world.

The top floor view area seriously needs a window cleaning. There are no open areas, so you have to photograph through the windows, but they are very dirty. Seriously, a good cleaning is all they need.

Finally, the main reason for the one-star review: We got to the tasting room and ordered a whisky flight with a few paired bites. Good. We then ousted l ordered several of the nicest whiskies on the list: Yamazaki 18, Hibiki 21, and a Hakushu 18. We had self-serve water, but we wanted something else to cleanse our palate between tasting these whiskies. They didn't have anything available (not crackers, breadsticks, or chips. Nothing.) I went to the shop and waited in line for 10 minutes to buy a small bag of crackers. Nothing crazy just plain salty crackers. When I opened them in the tasting room, I was rudely interrupted and told I couldn't bring in my own food. I mentioned that they were from the Hakushu shop, and the staff member pointed to the fine print on the menu card that said food (includes from the shop). I asked why they don't allow crackers or anything that would help with tasting the whiskies and again shrugging.

So, being stubborn, I just walked right to the tasting room door and ate a few crackers, then walked back to the table to taste. They had no problem with that.

But Suntory has a very bad policy. They need to offer a limited selection of non smelly palate cleansing snacks in the tasting room. Basically, crackers or breadsticks. I don't mind paying for them, but I really think it would serve 2 functions: giving customers a palate cleanser when tasting flights of whisky (which after the second, the palate is pretty shot); and helping to alleviate customers getting intoxicated rapidly. Having a bready snack would help immensely. And I know it's not an issue with having the food in the tasting room because they serve a paired flight as a special.

It seems they were catering to a particular type of tourist who we saw multiple examples of: tossing back a few whiskies without really tasting it, and then buying every bottle they could of the Hakushu non age whisky, which was the only whisky for sale.

We visited Yamazaki in 2017, and it was far better. And more convenient to get to. Hakushu was a pain to get to and was not worth the effort. Now we are Nikka fans over Suntory because they have...

Brilliant!

Really cannot recommend enough.

Is a bit far out, we went on our way back from Osaka to Tokyo. Use Kobuchizawa station as there is a free shuttle and check the Si Tory website for timings etc.

The free shuttle was great and there was luggage storage at the station to hold our bags.

The paid tour was really interesting, I’ve done lots of distilleries in Scotland, but this wasn’t much different different. The nature and the topography of the area are fascinating. Make sure you check suntory website and use their routes and shuttle timings as google maps had the journey at double the time.

The paid tour allows you to buy 12YO whereas normally you can only buy the standard bottle and the distillery reserve and gives you a great tasting with 5 whiskies (15ml) and snacks - well well worth it.

Restaurant was actually brilliant, pizza was incredible all with local ingredients. Factor in 30/40 mins pre/post tour for this.

Tasting was good, there is the one included in the tour (15ml of; lightly peated, heavily peated, Spanish oak, normal Hakushu and Hakushu highball) and snacks (smoked pasta, nuts and chocolate).

Paid tasting was same as Yamazaki distillery, and good value compared to rest of Japan.

Yamazaki 12YO purchase exclusive to those on the tour and was roughly £83 GBP per...

I gotta say, this distillery is one of the Best distilleries I’ve visited in Japan! Its set in a serene and beautiful forest and the dram it produces is one of most sought after in the world!

I highly recommend the ¥1000 whisky tour as they take you on a beautiful journey around the distillery plus the free tasting and highball making class at the end is well worth it.

Downside is it’s a bit of a trek to get here, as the free shuttle is not as frequent as you’d expect!

Tip: cost efficient way to get to get here is to buy a 5 day Flexi JR East pass. this pass will cover you for travel for all Tokyo JR lines, won’t cover you travelling west to Osaka or Kyoto.

Fastest way to get here is a train from Shinjuku to Kobuchizawa and take the free shuttle. If you miss the shuttle the taxi is the best bet price estimate - ¥1500-¥2000.

PS: there’s no aged whisky or any hakushu at this distillery. They only have the Chita for...