Hey, I’m Casey. Welcome to our newsletter, sharing the startup journey of Kamui Whisky K.K. We’ve been busy, but when we aren’t overwhelmed, we’ll share a story as we craft up a whisky distillery on a remote, volcanic island in the most northern part of Japan.
A few days back, our Senior Distiller, Taura-san arrived in Rishiri.
All smiles. Taura-san, centre, new he was taking an adventure, but not yet realizing how much of an adventure it would be from just the next day.
Now we just need all the equipment in place, have the final license inspection, receive approval, and then we are good to get distilling. Close. Things are moving fast now.
Our stills from Vendome, America’s most iconic still maker, fittingly, arrived on the 4th of July to our team’s emotional firework reception.
Our team was excited, not quite ready for what was about to come.
The Kamui team before the heavy lifting, forklift work, and brain-straining problem solving, with a heavy sprinkle of anxiety, begins.
A truck, longer than our distillery, arrives:
A wide, firm stance was needed while, Yasu, our Tokyo University (Japan’s top University; think MIT, Harvard, and Stanford all combined) transplant, got all those neurons firing to figure out how was this all going to unfold. Or was it just admiration?
This was dirty work. A beautiful smile, but with a visible undertone of “Oh, my god. This is crazy.”
Our Forklift Champion, Taura-san.
Taura-san was all intent, 100%-focused concentration, all day. He came to Rishiri to make the #1 whisky in the world, he didn’t want to drop the equipment that would make that dream happen. All on his 1st official day! Welcome Taura-san to the craziness that is the Rishiri Distillery.
We have liftoff.
While most of the team was trying to figure out how this was all going to work, someone had already climbed on top of the crates and got to opening.
Our first peak.
The first pot still about to make it’s grand entrance. But, of course, it wasn’t that easy. It needed some last minute problem solving in order to get it to the right spot. In the trial attempt the forklift got stuck several feet away from the position we wanted the still.
Our Forklift Master got it inside then our Rope Master took over.
The pulley and rope system had many of us standing in awe.
The skies opened and rays of light started shining on our still. After days of lousy weather it felt the island woke up and gave its blessing of our stills.
Let’s pause for some Forklift Porn, a sub-genre of Construction Porn.
You don’t see this everyday. Very expensive handmade equipment dangling precariously over asphalt, Popping curbs with a forklift.
Somehow maneuvered it through those narrow doors.
Now back to our regular programing:
All hands on deck for the mixer. Much heavier than it looked.
“Easy now.” The most repeated phrase of the day, said in several languages, even various sub-dialects.
Even our neighbor, Rishiri’s top uni fisherman, got in on the problem-solving excitement, openly questioning whether this approach was wise or not.
The master had a jerry-rigged plan. No-one thought it would work. Skepticism was palpable.
Some wooden trolleys collapsed under the weight, some unbalanced moments, but we were able to get the condensers through the doors.
Our saviour, Shiraita-san.
Shiraita-san. Even his knot work was impressive. It pays to learn how to knot kids.
The speed of his problem-solving was amazing. In a pinch, he went to the local electric power station to grab chain winches. Without those hoists and pulleys we would have never have gotten the system in place.
This was the scariest part:
So many images, so many different things going wrong were racing through my brain.
It was a lot of team work. Different members flourished at different times. Everyone stepped in, everyone contributed. It will be a day all of us will remember.
Intense work produced a range of expressions: satisfaction, tiredness, pride, and just plain sweaty.
A beautiful team. A beautiful system.
Beautiful. Framed in front of the big, picture windows.
And, of course, you need a barbecue to finish.
A bit of a competition developed between the Rishiri barbecue champion, Kosaka-san, driven by all the depths of local pride, and Javier, bringing Chilean bbq skills, and some serious skills they were. This was a tiny barbecue. You could see the egos clashing above the flames.
Our distillers are ready to make some sublime whisky.
Javier and Taura-san will soon be crafting some unique, delectable whisky. Rishiri in a bottle.
A couple of more steps and we will be a real distillery.
Well not, really, maybe the 2nd most harrowing part. There were some moments with the chain hoist and pulley system that I could barely watch, peaking through my fingers with my hand over my eyes.
Becoming a Distillery. A Photo Essay
Beautiful history , but... how tasty was that barbacue challenge? need more info ...
Awesome photos. Great to see it all coming together. And all the personalities involved.