Do the Angels Like Hiroshima Too? Sakurao’s Miyanoshika and a Greedy Share
2026.2.21
The wind off Hatsukaichi, and some greedy angels
Visit Sakurao Distillery and there are angels you can meet, in the area where photography isn’t allowed.
The moment the warehouse door opens, it comes at you: dense whisky aroma, and cold air.
A room cut off from the noise outside, where time moves slowly.
And in that dim space, watching over the casks, is Miyanoshika.
I’ve made that trip more than once, just to see him.
This is about Miyanoshika, who guards Sakurao’s warehouses, and the magic he works alongside the angels.
(↓ This should give you the feeling of standing inside the warehouse.)
What Miyanoshika actually is
Miyanoshika is a limited bottling, sold only at Sakurao Distillery.
Each release carries a lot number, and each lot tastes different.
You meet it once, in that form, and never again.
The Sakurao warehouse, with the sea wind off the Seto Inland Sea running through it, and the Togouchi warehouse, wrapped in deep green and mist.
Casks sleep in those two entirely different environments, and this deer watches over them quietly.
Deer have long been held to be messengers of the gods in Japan.
Miyanoshika sees the whole of it: whisky taking on colour inside the cask, its aroma deepening, little by little.
The sea wind is strong today. It’ll be cold up in the hills a while yet.
That kind of exchange, conducted through the liquid itself. That’s the story packed into this bottle.
The angels’ share: the science, and the romance
A small aside here, for anyone who loves whisky.
The whisky that disappears from a cask during maturation is called the angels’ share.
Why does it disappear at all?
A cask is alive. Water and alcohol evaporate, a little at a time, through the grain of the wood.
People long ago said the angels had drunk it. What a way to put it.
Do angels have regional tastes?
In a cold place like Scotland, they take about 2% a year.
Hiroshima is nothing like Scotland.
A sun that stings in summer, a hard cold in winter, and the damp air particular to the Seto Inland Sea.
The angels here are greedier in summer.
When humidity is low, water goes first and the strength climbs. When it’s high, alcohol goes first and the strength drops.
Sakurao by the sea, Togouchi in the hills.
Perhaps Miyanoshika tastes both shares, and waits for the right moment.
Miyanoshika, sold only at the distillery
What glows on the label is the torii gate at Miyajima.
Miyajima has been revered as an island of the gods — green, and a World Heritage Site Hiroshima is proud of.
Take a mouthful, and what lifts through your nose is exactly that — treasure the angels left behind.
Think of it that way, and every drop in the glass becomes dearer.
Hiroshima air, sea wind, and all the time Miyanoshika spent watching.
If you visit the distillery and get to meet him, tell me how it felt.
You can buy it there, but there’s rarely time to sit with a glass properly.
So finish here 🥃
Let’s take that lot’s story apart together.
Every encounter is meant to be. Welcome to the world of Rum & Whisky.
【A note from Mika】 There is little official information about Miyanoshika, so parts of this article are my own reading and interpretation. Please take it as such.
【About the author】
Mika Tanimoto — President, Little.m Inc. / owner-bartender
Owner of Bar Little Happiness, a rum and whisky bar in Hiroshima now in its twentieth year.
Since opening in 2006, she has worked as a specialist in passing on what moves her about whisky and rum.
The back bar holds over 1,000 bottles, from rare and hard-to-find releases to Sakurao, made here in Hiroshima.
• More than one bar: alongside the main bar, she runs a casual sister venue, the Rum & Whisky Highball Bar.
• Online: an online shop sending selected bottles across Japan in small measures.
• Writing: her column, Notes on Whisky and Rum.
・The founding story: At 22, working poor, and the light I found.
Whisky and rum taste better when you know the hearts behind them.
