(Image Source: Kirin, Passion Passport)

We recently covered how Kirin was aggressively expanding the distribution of their whiskies, having invested substantially in securing the necessary capacity to keep up with its efforts to capture the massive tailwind Japanese whiskies are enjoying.

This led to some really interesting expressions that we don't quite see much of, for those paying close attention to the labels, you'll notice the use of the term "Single Blended Japanese Whisky". This tells us that the expression is not only made from domestically crafted whiskies, but perhaps more uniquely, of a combination of malt and grain whiskies made at the same distillery. Keep in mind how rare it is for a distillery to produce both malt and grain whiskies simultaneously, underscoring how large the Fuji Distillery is!

Since, Kirin has massively grown distribution and more excitingly, will make its first official appearance in Singapore in October 2022. Separately, Kirin will also begin exporting their Single Blended expression to the US and Australia.

Fuji Gotemba Distillery has perhaps one of the best backdrops. (Image Source: Time Out)

It has been announced that the Kirin Single Grain Japanese Whiskey Fuji, which was released in 2020, has achieved significant growth. Domestically, sales volume has tripled in Japan and multiplied 20-fold overseas, just one year after its launch. Its export value of the Fuji brand has grown to about 2.5x on a year-over-year basis. In the US, it is now distributed in 19 states as of September 2022, having started out with 8 states in just March 2022.

This led to an expansion in distribution to Australia (March) and China (June), and now, Singapore, which will receive the Kirin Single Grain Japanese Whiskey Fuji and the Kirin Single Blended Japanese Whiskey Fuji.

Overall, the brand states that with the expanded distribution, it is now on track to achieve its 2025 target of increasing its overseas sales ratio of the Fuji brand to 50% by 2022, just as the brand readies to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2023.

Previously, we covered not just Fuji's massive expansion but also did a feature on why Fuji's whiskies are core to the Japanese whisky story. Check them out!

Kanpai!

@111hotpot