The Wild Animals from Ezo: A Secret Orkney Malt and the First Hokkaido Whisky Festival
2026.10.05
In short: “The Wild Animals from Ezo” is a 15-year-old Orkney single malt (distilled 2002, bottled 2018) with no distillery name — the first private bottle of the first Hokkaido Whisky Festival in 2018, only 300 bottles, with a red fox photo by Hiroki Inoue and Ainu patterns on the label. By Mika Tanimoto, owner of Bar Little Happiness in Hiroshima, Japan.
“The Wild Animals from Ezo.”
On the label is a Hokkaido red fox, quietly gazing at the wild of Hokkaido.
But the name of the distillery inside is written nowhere.
A secret, marked only “Orkney.”
Distilled in 2002, bottled in 2018: 15 years old.
A northern giant where power and delicacy live together. (Those who know will know.)
Not being able to say it makes you want to talk about it.
There’s no distillery name on the bottle.
It feels a bit like a mystery — but hiding isn’t the point at all.
Rather, the space created by not saying too much
suits a bar perfectly.
With whom, and in what kind of time, to enjoy it?
That is always decided by you, the one tilting the glass.
The perspective of the northern animals
The Wild Animals from Ezo
was the first private bottle, made in 2018 to commemorate the first Hokkaido Whisky Festival.
Only 300 bottles, available only at the venue on the day — a special bottle.
The label features a red fox photographed by photographer Hiroki Inoue,
and Ainu patterns with plant motifs.
Not only the contents — the bottle itself holds a story.
That’s another charm of this bottle.
As a glass to “remember”
We now live in an age when whisky festivals are held somewhere in Japan almost every month.
More and more people choose Hokkaido for a whisky trip, seeking a cooler climate.
In the past few years, new distilleries have been born one after another in Hokkaido,
and the presence of Hokkaido whisky is definitely growing.
That’s exactly why I want to look back now.
2018, the first Hokkaido Whisky Festival. This bottle was born as its symbol.
And this year — the 2025 Hokkaido Whisky Festival is scheduled for Sunday, 27 July.
New stories will surely be born again.
Sadly, I have a prior commitment and can’t go,
but please tell me about the energy of the venue and the scenes of new encounters!
Surely, someone’s “first story” will quietly begin there again.
With someone special,
or with yourself,
to the memory of that night,
a glass that makes you want to toast once more —
a glass for the first story.
Every encounter is meant to be. Welcome to the world of Rum&Whisky.
Mika Tanimoto, Bar Little Happiness
[About the author]
Mika Tanimoto
CEO, Little.m Inc. / Owner-bartender
Since 2006, I have run Bar Little Happiness, a whisky and rum bar in Nagarekawa, Hiroshima. I visit distilleries in Japan and around the world and write about the people who make the spirits. Recipient of the Hiroshima City Excellent Skilled Worker Award.
“Whisky and rum taste even better when you know the hearts of the people who make them.”
[Visit the bar] 📍 Bar Little Happiness
Rolling Nagarekawa 1F, 5-14 Nagarekawa-cho, Naka-ku, Hiroshima
Mon–Sat 7:00 pm – 12:30 am / Sun 7:00 pm – 12:00 am (closed when I travel to visit distilleries)
No cover charge, no reservation needed
