Whisky production in Japan began around 1870, but the first commercial production was in 1924, when the country’s first distillery—Yamazaki—opened. Broadly speaking the style of Japanese whisky is more similar to that of Scotch whisky than Bourbon whiskey, and thus the spelling typically follows the Scotch convention (omitting the letter “e”).

There are several companies producing whisky in Japan. Perhaps the two most well known are Suntory and Nikka. Both of these produce blended as well as single malt whiskies