Whisky & Food

Whisky and food from Central Japan share one thing above all: land and distillery are never far apart. Traveling through the four regions, you often eat just a few kilometers from the very cask where the whisky is aging.

In Yamanashi, they cook hoto: thick, flat noodles in a rich miso broth with pumpkin, leek and root vegetables. It's a dish built for cold mountain winters. Hakushu, with its green, herbal side, pairs beautifully. The quiet smoke in the background picks up the earthy sweetness of the miso broth instead of fighting it.

Nagano is home to Shinshu soba, buckwheat noodles that can only carry the name if they contain at least forty percent buckwheat. They're served with sharp, freshly grated wasabi from the alpine valleys around Azumino. Mars Komagatake, with its apple and pear freshness, feels almost like an extension of the plate: cool, clear, with the same cutting bite as the wasabi.

Shizuoka is known for unagi, grilled eel in a sweet-salty tare sauce, especially in Hamamatsu. The sauce's sweetness and roasted notes call for a whisky that pushes back rather than yields. Fuji Gotemba's grain whisky from the bourbon-style still delivers exactly that, bringing plenty of vanilla and a hint of burnt caramel, robust enough to stand up to the eel.

In Chichibu, waraji katsudon ranks among the city's most famous dishes: a huge breaded cutlet shaped like a straw sandal, glazed with sweet soy over rice. Chichibu's "The Peated" is no quiet choice alongside it. Its smoke and the resinous sweetness from the Mizunara vessels easily hold their own against the rich, sweet-salty breading.