Rishiri Whisky: A Spirited Journey Through 2024

A 2024 Look-back

I started Kamui with the dream of creating a centuries-old company. Now we are 3 years in.

We’ve had problems along the way. Building a craft whisky distillery on a remote island and problems goes together like Rishiri and Konbu.

2024: Less or More?

2024 was... well, it depends on how much startup blood you've got coursing through your veins. We're small, we're scrappy, and we're the only ones crazy enough to make single malt on this windswept Northern Japanese isle. We started distilling in the fall of 2022, and for cash flow, I sold a bunch of Owner's Barrels in our first couple of years. Those private casks will reach their initial (3-year) maturity before our own. 2025 won't be the year of our first whisky release. That honor goes to 2026.

Instead, 2025 will be a year of further growth and, with a dash of luck and a sprinkle of skill, a smidgen of stability. Our first full year of distillation (2023) was much more turbulent than a whisky wash during fermentation. Caught in political pincers more than once, we had to stop production twice – once for an extended period that felt longer than a Scotch's age statement.

While the year is no longer 'new', and this 2024 retrospective is arriving fashionably late (it needed time to mature), happy companies reflect and appreciate what they've accomplished. We're still in our offseason – three tough winter months on Rishiri when we close down until we reassemble in March, a quiet time for some reflection.

We had a solid year in 2024. Here's our look-back, served neat with a splash of honesty:

Production

We hit our goal. Surpassed it.

Thanks to our Head Distiller's leadership and determination (and perhaps a few sacrifices to the whisky gods), we managed to distill over 10,000L at proof. That's up from our smaller production in 2023, and we're aiming to hit 13,000 L in 2025.

And this is very good liquid we are making.

We just found out our 2024 Kamui Genshu (unaged whisky) won Bronze at the World Whisky Awards. Our first international win. Pretty impressive, if we do say so ourselves.

We raised the price of our Genshu at the beginning of 2024¹, to a point more in line with its quality and rarity. Demand was consistently high, and often, regrettably, we had to turn visitors away bottle-less or with much less than they wished to purchase.

As we make only whisky (no vodka, no gin, no fancy flavored stuff), our Kamui Genshu is the only offering we have now until our first batch of aged Japanese Whisky is available in the fall/winter of 2026².

Yet we are steadily increasing the amount of Rishiri spirit we produce, continuously focused on craft, and extreme artisanal quality.

Watasumi

Picture this: a big truck, coming every couple of weeks, collecting a bunch of tanks, taking the ferry across to Wakkanai, then driving for hours to a facility outside of Sapporo. Then turning around two weeks later to make the trip again. No, this isn't the plot of a bizarre Japanese road trip movie – it's how we were shipping our wastewater.

Operationally, and financially, this wasn’t sustainable. Treating the waste water was reaching 40% of the cost to make a barrel. It was like paying for a five-star hotel room just to use the bathroom.

But sustainability and care for Rishiri are our guiding principles. Some voices suggested dumping it in the ocean – "It's okay," they said. Other than awkwardly laughing at such an outrageous suggestion (and maybe checking to see if they were secret agents from a rival distillery), there was never any consideration to do such a thing³.

Enter Watasumi, our wastewater knight in shining armor. Their innovative solution, incubated out of one of Japan's top Research Universities, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, uses special bacteria that love to eat the wastewater from the distillation process. It's like having tiny, very hungry, very eco-friendly pets.

As a startup ourselves, we want to support other startups. So where others might not have taken a risk on a new, innovative (and clean!) solution, we did. And it paid off. Literally. David, the founder of Watasumi, spent a lot of time installing the system onsite for us, tending to his precious "bugs", and tweaking it to get the system working properly. He was so focused on the bacteria, I'm not sure he even noticed the beautiful Rishiri sunsets behind him. Real dedication!

You could often catch a glimpse of David between the columns of the bacteria cleaning system. Stuck in with the “bugs” 🐛.

In the second half of 2024, our Watasumi system was working, the bugs were alive and doing their job, and our wastewater cost was reduced some 30x, in one of the most environmentally friendly ways in our industry. It's a big win for our operations and for Mother Nature.

Who knew caring for the environment could be so... intoxicating?

Team: The Great Divide

By the end of the year, our team became our key challenge. Half our team quit! While not precise, our team is about half foreigners and half Japanese. Can you guess which half quit? ... If you said the Japanese team (except for our local Rishiri member - he’s a legend), give yourself a gold star (but not one of our whisky bottles, those are too precious).

All the foreigners stayed.

Of course, a lot of reflection has gone into why. Building a startup team in Rishiri, an extreme and remote location, has been very challenging. It's like trying to assemble IKEA furniture without the instructions... in a blizzard... on a remote island.

Here’s why I think it’s been hard:

• Rishiri is remote. If you’re local, it’s home. If you’re not, and you’re from a different part of Japan, and relocate to work, it’s not easy. It’s a closed community and island culture can be very different than “normal” mainland Japanese culture. Integrating can be hard⁴.

• Rishiri is remote, part II. There’s not a lot to do for entertainment. Friends can be challenging.

• Lack of startup mentality. We are a startup. We're trying to build something meaningful, from scratch, which was never there before in Rishiri. We are trying to make a global business, build a super premium brand, from Rishiri. It is hard. Really hard. Things don't go as planned. Challenges come out of the blue. There are negative surprises. The key mentality needed is resiliency, and a feeling that "we can get through this too". Traditional Japanese work culture is more brittle, and not very flexible like what is needed in a startup. Things are expected to work, process to be in place, and to deal with problems in a steady continuous way, not (semi) constant fires that need to be put out.

  • The early Japanese members that took a risk on us weren’t bringing this startup mentality⁵, and while intellectually it can be understood, emotionally dealing with it on a daily level is different.

  • Coming so far across the world, committing to a remote location, our foreign members were already displaying this entrepreneurial character, and probably one of the reasons are more stable within the team.

• Finally, it can’t be ruled out that Casey is the problem (depending on how far this gets spread, I’m sure there will be plenty who agree 🤣)

Positively, in 2025 we have fresh winds coming in. During this off-season, we've been conducting a lot of interviews! We have two new Rishiri locals joining the team from the spring, with a third Rishiri-born member likely being hired and joining as well 👏👏👏. This core team of local members, with Rishiri in their blood, will bring more team stability. We’re finally finding those missing puzzle pieces that have been hiding under the couch all along.

We’re also bringing in more members to our production team to create a deeper bench, take some of the (physical) burden off Javier, and help increase production further with our current machines. Without taking a risky investment to build a new, bigger distillery.

The Taste of Success

We continue to have a very positive response to our Kamui Genshu. We've had more and more people with refined palates – from Chefs to Scottish Whisky Master Blenders – appreciating the unique spirit we are crafting.

Our goal continues to be to put the terroir of Rishiri into a bottle. With our ocean-close location and constant winds, our liquid is inundated with sea tastes. The salt of the sea, the umami of the Konbu (Did you know Umami was first discovered from Konbu? And that it is derived from "Umai", meaning "tasty"?) gives a long foundational taste and mouthfeel. It's like we’re capturing the essence of Rishiri in liquid form – minus the seagulls and the potential Russian invasion.

Whether it was the media, bartenders, chefs, industry insiders, whisky lovers, our barrel owners, or the general public, the respect and appreciation for what our team is creating continues to grow. We are starting to get international recognition for our quality (e.g., World Whiskies award mentioned earlier). Occasionally, maybe once a month, someone will visit the distillery, take a tour, do a tasting, and then get emotional. Maybe a catch in their throat. Once in a while, a tear. (We're pretty sure it's from being moved by the whisky, not from the alcohol burn.)

This emotional response to our whisky is what we want to deliver to everyone who drinks whisky from Kamui Whisky K.K. That's our mission, and what we labor for daily. We're not just making whisky; we're bottling emotions, memories, and a little bit of Rishiri magic.

Some Nice Moments throughout 2024

As we look back on 2024 and forward to the rest of 2025, we raise a glass (of Kamui Genshu, naturally) to the challenges we've overcome, the progress we've made, and the exciting future ahead. We may be small, we may be remote, but we're crafting something special here on our windswept isle.

The beautiful light we get.

More of our beautiful light.

Our gorgeous sunsets.

Kids growing up with Rishiri. Experiencing special chances they don’t get in the city.

Kids getting to be kids. Rishiri-style free. As a single-father, I’m always traveling with kids to and from Rishiri.

The distillery will be in the deep kids’ childhood memories.

Hosting our very interesting, often super cool Barrel Owners. Some very interesting people come visit us and fill their own barrels.

The team that researched and built our special Volcanic Rock Filtering system came from South Dakota to visit, and made sure it was all set up properly. Wonderful times were had. (A full post about our Volcanic Rock Filtering System is needed!)

Our intern, his energy, and antics. His post here:

An extensive tasting session, late at night, or at least late for Rishiri, after the distillery is shutdown, experimenting with different Hokkaido foods to see what tastes will match the different flavors found in Kamui Genshu.

A first taste of a 2 year whisky. Very nice. We’re guessing 5 - 7 years of aging will be our sweet spot.

Legendary Kamen Rider actor, Hiroshi Fujioka, and his daughter visited us in the distillery to record a special program.

Mt. Rishiri in the background. They chose the ferry route.

Rishiri’s Pearly Shores. Witnessing one of Rishiri's most peculiar natural events: our coastline transformed into a milky white expanse. From all the herring sperm. 🫣

Javier’s story was covered by Asahi Newspaper. Javier deserves wide recognition for the beautiful spirit he creates in Rishiri.

The wonderful, and impromptu “strategy” sessions with Javier in random places around the distillery.

The soul filling sunsets. (Here our windows are caked with sea salt from the strong winds. Despite frequent cleaning.)

A special private barreling for Sato-san, to say “Thanks” for his pivotal role in the creation of Kamui Whisky K.K. Shortly before we lost him.

First Official Cocktail: The Kamui Negroni

While we recommend enjoying our Kamui Genshu on the rocks or twice up, our creative team has concocted a sophisticated twist on a classic for those seeking a bolder experience. Introducing the Kamui Negroni – a perfect blend for spicing up your evening (or afternoon, we don't judge). This cocktail showcases our Genshu's versatility and adds an exciting new dimension to our signature spirit:

June 28th will be the date of Kamui Whisky K.K. Festival. A great time to experience Rishiri and mix with the community.

Come visit us in 2025.

May our spirit strengthen yours.

1. In 2024 we started putting a year designation on the label. If you buy Genshu in 2025 it will have a “2025” on the label. While the main recipe remains the same each year, likely each year will have a slightly different expression - due to slight differences in climate and process.

2. Likely only 800 bottles 😱!

3. We have a bully in the industry, a distillery quite a bit bigger than us, that likes to talk negatively about us and spread rumors. Maybe they can’t read so well, or more likely just plain malicious, as it seems the post I previously wrote quite openly about Watasumi and the wastewater challenges before was blown up into some rumors that went some distance in the small Japanese whisky industry. As we get more successful, and more recognition, this bully’s efforts seem to be only more aggressive.

4. When travelers ask me about Japan, I often say Japanese can be very mean to Japanese. I think this takes a special twist on Rishiri.

5. It has been pointed out to me that the financial uncertainty of a startup is likely part of the problem of concern. Yes, that uncertainty is part of the definition of a startup. Whisky is a long business, and we only make whisky, it takes a while until we are profitable, and can be considered “stable”.