A Liqueur Named “Hiroshima” in Gaelic: SAKURAO’s INIS MOR

2026.8.04

INIS MOR.

Gaelic for “big island” — which is to say, Hiroshima.

(Gaelic being the language of Scotland and Ireland.)

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What INIS MOR is: a herb and honey liqueur built on Japanese whisky

INIS MOR is a small-batch liqueur made jointly by three parties: BAR Drambuie, an authentic bar in Kitasenju, Tokyo; the retailer Shinanoya; and Sakurao Brewery and Distillery.

The benchmark was Drambuie, the classic whisky liqueur built on Scotch.

The idea was to rebuild that with Japanese materials.

The base is Japanese whisky, made domestically by Sakurao.

To that they add a herb and spice infusion, sugar, and honey.

The name INIS MOR came from BAR Drambuie.

It carries respect for Hiroshima’s producers, and respect for Scotland.

All seven botanicals come from Hiroshima

There are seven botanicals.

• Scented geranium
• Fennel
• Sage
• Lemon verbena
• Rhubarb
• Aniseed
• Local farm honey

All seven are from Hiroshima Prefecture.

The only imported material is cinnamon.

One ingredient the flavour genuinely required, and that one alone comes from abroad.

The Japanese whisky underneath it is from Hiroshima too.

Which means INIS MOR is, cinnamon aside, almost entirely made of Hiroshima.

Hiroshima herbs, Hiroshima honey, Hiroshima whisky.

The official tasting notes

Scented geranium leads, bright and floral, with fennel, sage and lemon verbena holding the depth behind it

After the sweetness comes cinnamon’s bitterness, and spice lifting through the nose

Set against existing whisky liqueurs, it has less of Drambuie’s weight and more of the clarity of Irish Mist, with the honey stretching out — light and fresh in the finish

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Another spirit built on Sakurao: the Kanagawa amaro “Scarlet”

INIS MOR isn’t the only outside project Sakurao has taken on.

In Sagamihara, Kanagawa, there is a producer called Iseya Sakagura.

They work out of a restored hundred-year-old house, making spirits by hand, using older methods.

Their amaro — a liqueur built around bitterness — is called Scarlet.

The base spirit for Scarlet is Sakurao vodka.

INIS MOR, brought in by a Tokyo bartender and a retailer.

Scarlet, made by a small producer in Kanagawa.

Two entirely different projects, from entirely different places.

And Sakurao has taken on both.

Sakurao backs people who are trying something

Sakurao traces back to Chugoku Jozo, founded in 1918 in Sakurao, Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima.

Sake, shochu, mirin, liqueurs, whisky, craft gin.

For over a century they have made just about everything.

That includes liqueurs like their momiji manju bottling and the kawaii series.

Fresh fruit, herbs, dried botanicals, coffee, cream.

Which is to say their accumulated knowledge of handling materials and drawing out aroma is on another order entirely.

So when someone comes to them saying here’s what we want to make, they can make it.

They can take the work on because they have the technical ability.

But I don’t think it’s only about technical ability.

Sakurao has a way of meeting a new idea with: that sounds interesting.

Which is why I can’t wait for Forest Site

Sakurao is currently building a new distillery in Yoshiwa, Hatsukaichi.

It will be called SAKURAO DISTILLERY FOREST SITE.

The plan is for the latest German production equipment, alongside pot stills from a traditional Scottish stillmaker.

There will be a visitor route, built so you can take in the process and what makes the whisky what it is.

The visitor building is scheduled for completion in autumn 2026.

Sakurao by the sea, Togouchi in the hills, and now the forest at Yoshiwa.

Different natural environments across Hiroshima, turning directly into the character of the spirits.

A company that gathered seven Hiroshima botanicals into INIS MOR — what will they make next, in a forest?

I can hardly wait.

▼ From my visit to Forest Site, back when there was nothing there yet

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Whisky and rum taste better when you know the hearts behind them.

Every encounter is meant to be. Welcome to the world of Rum & Whisky.

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