WHITE OAK DISTILLERY

AKASHI

The nation of Japan is considered an archipelago, or chain of islands, and consists of four major islands and thousands of smaller ones, which are divided into 11 regions. These regions are further divided into 47 prefectures, Hyogo being one of these. Hyogo prefecture is located almost in the centre of the Japanese archipelago on the main island of Honshu and extends from the Japan Sea in the north to the Seto Inland Sea in the south, and further down to the Pacific Ocean through Awaji Island. The prefectural capital of Hyogo is Kobe and its neighbours are the prefectures of Osaka, Kyoto, Tottori and Okayama.

The White Oak whisky distillery is located in the city of Akashi in Hyogo Prefecture, west of Kobe, facing the Seto Inland Sea. The distillery was founded by Eigashima Shuzo which has produced Sake and Shochu since 1888. Eigashima Shuzo obtained a license to manufacture whisky in 1919, but it was when the company moved to their current facilities in 1984 that White Oak Distillery was born. 

White Oak’s whisky stills are only in operation for a few month’s of the year and so their production quantity is minuscule. Since 2017 Eigashima have since stopped making Shochu to re-focus their energy (and workers) into making Whisky. They are now working 6 day weeks during April - July to maximise the amount of new make they can create, roughly 110 tonnes of malted barley each year. Currently there are around 1200 casks ageing at White Oak, the oldest stock at around 8 years or younger. Most of the ageing is done in first used Bourbon cask (ex Wild Turkey) and new Sherry casks. However in the warehouse there are many different oak expressions; refill American oak, Old Sherry Casks, recharred Shochu casks, Cognac casks, Tequila Casks and some very special locally coopered casks made from a local oak called Konara - often reserved for ageing Shochu.

Black Market Sake started working with White Oak Distillery in 2011. Since that time we remain the only official importer of White Oak into Australia. Each year we are offered a number of one-off single malt bottlings many which you will find only at blackmarketsake.com however quantities are extremely limited.