By RYUZO NAKANO/ Staff Writer
September 10, 2021 at 06:30 JST
Yoshikatsu Tanaka, president of the Hokkaido Research Organization (HRO), shows grits processed from corn grown in Hokkaido at the institution in Sapporo’s Kita Ward on June 16. The grits will be blended with malt to create whiskey. (Ryuzo Nakano)
SAPPORO--Plans are brewing here to produce a Hokkaido brand of “bourbon” made from local ingredients by the end of March 2026.
A Sapporo-based research institute has joined forces with local companies in a project to develop whiskey from corn grown in Hokkaido, the largest corn production area in Japan.
The project initiated by the Hokkaido Research Organization (HRO), an independent administrative agency, was launched this fiscal year jointly with eight companies and organizations.
The HRO was inspired to try its hand at brewing corn whiskey by the increasing popularity of domestically produced Japanese whiskies abroad, which have been a boon for boosting exports.
Officials at the agency suspect that their brand, when ready, will be the first of its kind in Hokkaido, saying they had never heard of a domestically produced corn whiskey.
“Hokkaido has the potential to become one of the world’s leading production areas for whiskey,” HRO President Yoshikatsu Tanaka said.
“We aim to turn corn whiskey production into a main industry and contribute to the revitalization of Hokkaido’s economy and the agricultural sector. We want to make our dream of making a Hokkaido version of ‘bourbon’ a reality.”
Though the whiskey in development is a grain whiskey, which is made from corn, wheat or other cereals, it cannot be labeled a bourbon because bourbons must be produced and aged in the United States and meet other strict requirements.
But the team intends to market the beverage as a corn whiskey that meets the standards for Japanese whisky produced in the country.
Under the project, ripe corn harvested in Kuriyama and Yuni will be processed into grits at a plant currently being built in Kuriyama by N-Grits, based in Hokkaido’s Ebetsu city.
HL Wine in Naganuma and other entities will be responsible for the production process of mixing the grits with malt from barley grown in Hokkaido for fermentation and distillation.
The team will study the most suitable ratio for a combination of corn and malt, one of the decisive factors that determines the flavor and aroma of the whiskey, and develop exclusive barrels made of locally produced wood.
It aims to sell the whiskey in late fiscal 2025 after three years of fermentation.
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