Tankyu Distillery “Single Malt New Pot 2026”: The First Bottle from a New Hokkaido Distillery

2026.10.05

In short: Tankyu Distillery opened in August 2025 in Higashikawa, Hokkaido — the only town in Japan with no public water mains — as Japan’s first publicly built, privately operated craft distillery, using Asahidake underground water. Co-founder Joseph Cheung created Perfume Trees Gin; head distiller David trained at Edradour. Tasting notes on its Single Malt New Pot 2026 (63%, 1,500 bottles). By Mika Tanimoto, owner of Bar Little Happiness in Hiroshima.

A single malt new pot has arrived at Little Happiness from Tankyu Distillery, a new craft distillery in Higashikawa, Hokkaido 🥃

Just released on 11 May 2026: a 120 ml bottle at 63% ABV, limited to 1,500 bottles in Japan.

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About this article

I haven’t visited Tankyu Distillery myself yet.

This time, they reached out to me on Instagram and kindly gave me a bottle of their new pot!

Thank you!

I put this article together hoping to organise and share, even a little, about the new craft distilleries being born in Japan right now.

The basic information here is based on the official website and published news reports.

Only the tasting impressions are in my own words 🥃

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What is Tankyu Distillery?

Tankyu Distillery is in Higashikawa, at the foot of the Daisetsuzan mountains in central Hokkaido.

According to official information:

Founded: 2024

Opened: August 2025

Address: Nishi 2-go Kita 23-banchi, Higashikawa-cho, Kamikawa-gun, Hokkaido

Business model: Japan’s first “publicly built, privately operated” craft distillery

Co-founders: Joseph Cheung, Kit Cheung

Head distiller: David

A new distillery, not yet even a year since opening.

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Higashikawa: the only town in Japan without a public water supply

There’s a fact worth knowing about Higashikawa.

Higashikawa is the only town in Japan without a public water mains system.

In other words, people’s daily lives and the crops are all supported by groundwater from the Daisetsuzan mountains.

The mashing water is underground water from Mt. Asahidake in the Daisetsuzan range.

Pure snowmelt water, selected as one of the “100 Remarkable Waters of the Heisei Era.”

The relationship between the town and the distillery is also distinctive.

Higashikawa town provides the land and infrastructure, and Tankyu Distillery handles the making — Japan’s first “publicly built, privately operated” craft distillery, a partnership between local government and the private sector.

Founder Joseph Cheung and Perfume Trees Gin

Co-founder Joseph Cheung launched the gin brand “Perfume Trees Gin” in Hong Kong in 2018.

The gin’s awards are as follows:

SIP Awards (USA): Platinum, Best of Class

Gin Masters (UK): Master Medal

World’s Best Gin Label Design

Great Taste Award (UK): 2-Star

What stands out in particular is the “World’s Best Gin Label Design” award.

It seems he is a maker with a strong commitment not only to the gin itself, but to design and building a whole world around it.

Perfume Trees Gin is sold in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and the UK, and has a spacious tasting room in The Mills, a historic building in Hong Kong.

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Head distiller, David

The head distiller is David, from Taiwan.

According to public information:

Trained as a distiller at Edradour Distillery in the Scottish Highlands

Experience as master blender at Speyside Distillery in Scotland

Host of the popular Taiwanese whisky podcast “whisky4pro”

An experienced distiller is in charge of making whisky in Higashikawa, Hokkaido.

The world of their official social media

Looking at their official Instagram, it feels less like a whisky distillery and more like a cosmetics or perfume brand, with a refined world of its own.

Delicate white space, refined colours.

Perhaps the sensibility of Joseph Cheung, winner of World’s Best Gin Label Design, is reflected throughout the branding.

Just photographing this bottle makes me feel like a stylish person!

The words on their official online shop capture that atmosphere well:

> The Daisetsuzan mountains seen from the window

> Shadows of snow that remain even in summer

> Deep snow seeps through the rock

> becomes underground water as smooth as silk

> and returns to the surface

> A short, hot summer dyes the rice ears gold

> A long winter sharpens the forest and the light

> The quiet, beautiful scenery of Hokkaido

> carried in a spirit

> to you

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Single Malt New Pot 2026

The specs of the bottle that arrived at Little Happiness:

Product name: Single Malt New Pot 2026

Volume: 120 ml

ABV: 63%

Shipped in Japan: limited to 1,500 bottles

Retail price: 2,970 yen (tax included)

Release date: Monday, 11 May 2026

“New pot” means clear spirit, freshly distilled, before cask maturation.

The first full release as matured whisky is planned for early 2028.

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Tasting impressions

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First, I poured the bottle neat into a glass 🥃

Nose

What rose up was a creamy, lactic fruitiness.

And a minerality in the background.

For 63% ABV, the nose wasn’t sharp at all — rather soft and rounded.

Palate

The moment it hits your mouth, a powerful richness spreads.

And at its core, a firm toastiness from the barley.

A smooth texture, and a clarity with no off-notes.

Creamy, and clear —

At first glance they seem contradictory, but if I had to describe this new pot, those two words felt just right.

This spirit, from now on, in the cask…

Maybe this new pot is made to stand up to long maturation, I thought.

Tankyu Distillery’s New Pot 2026 is clean, clear and smooth.

And it firmly has a powerful richness and the toastiness of barley.

A spirit with such a solid core of richness and toastiness already at the new pot stage won’t thin out even after a long time in the cask — rather, I think it will grow richer!

A glass that made me look forward to the full release in early 2028!

(The tasting notes are my personal impressions. Please read them as the musings of one whisky geek.)

In closing

With so many new distilleries releasing bottles, it’s hard to keep track of them all these days.

Thanks to the connection of being sent this bottle, a bottle from a new Hokkaido distillery has joined the back bar of Little Happiness 🥃

The full release of matured whisky is planned for early 2028.

Until then, I want to enjoy this new pot carefully while following Tankyu Distillery’s progress.

If I ever get the chance to visit Higashikawa from Hiroshima, I hope to share an on-site report 🥃

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

Tankyu Distillery “Single Malt New Pot 2026” is available at Little Happiness.