Niigata Kameda belongs to the second wave of craft Japanese whisky distillers who have now made it across what is perhaps the first big hurdle of having their whiskies reach past the 3 year mark to properly qualify as whisky that has now begun to hit shelves. It's a landmark achievement that any distiller should be incredibly proud of, having endured the first several years of not only laying down all of the necessary groundwork, but also having to wait till this point from which they can begin to fully showcase themselves and make their first impressions on whisky fans, bars, retailers, you name it!

Hiroyuki Doda.

As a brief introduction - you can read the full deep dive of how Niigata Kameda went from Japan's largest seal-maker to craft whisky distiller here! - the distillery is founded by a Hiroyuki Doda, who had joined his wife's family business, Otani, which happens to make Hanko stamps in Niigata, once essential to daily life serving as a person or company's signature. Nevertheless as Japan has moved towards digitalisation, these stamps have become less popular and as such Doda-san was put in charge of finding new businesses for the company. Doda-san himself had already been a big fan of whiskies and once remarked to his wife that his favourite Japanese whisky had become prohibitively expensive and harder to find, to which his wife had encouraged him to make his own whiskies. A series of fortuitous events would subsequently occur and Doda-san would begin to seriously take the next steps to formally establishing Niigata Micro Distillery G.K. in 2019 - sat right next to Otani's office! 

Hanko stamps.

With Niigata best known for its rice and by extension, Sake, Doda-san has sought to produce an equivalent whisky that shares those sensibilities - one that is by his description estery, light and clean, and that is also versatile in how it can be enjoyed, be it straight, on the rocks, or as a highball. The distillery is equipped uniquely with a lantern shaped wash still - which thus serves as the distillery's logo - that was designed to help achieve that flavour profile, with the distillery producing both peated and unpeated whiskies. Doda-san also employs a longer fermentation to create that fruitiness, with also the use of acacia washbacks that allows for better lactic bacteria development that supports robust fermentation. The distillery currently uses Bourbon, Sherry and Wine casks, with the hope of incorporating more local woods, more recently beginning to use Cherry Blossom and Mizunara.

With the 3 year mark now cleared, Doda-san has also been actively looking for more ways to work culturally with what makes Niigata unique so as to cultivate a true sense of locality with his whiskies, with initiatives including collaborating with local farmers to grow Yukimi six-row barley to be distilled, along with a plan to have his whiskies matured on the bilge of the popular local Awashima Line ferry that links Murakami City with Awashima, with also the possibility of making grain whiskies with the famous Niigata-grown rice.

With distillation first running in 2021, Niigata Kameda has since put out its debut release in 2025, kicking off with a Zodiac Series, with the first bottling being Pisces. Interestingly, on the label is a drawing of a "Pisces" girl, which I had not been aware given that I too am a Pisces, that there was perhaps a "Pisces" look.

In any case, let's get down to tasting it! Let's go!

Whisky Review: Niigata Kameda Ohtani Japanese Single Malt, Zodiac Sign Pisces, 50% ABV | 新潟亀田蒸溜所 大谷 ゾディアックサインシリーズ「うお座」

100% distilled at Niigata Kameda. Distilled in 2021 and bottled in 2025. Blend of Bourbon and Sherry casks amongst others, with an emphasis on First-Fill Bourbon casks, as well as some Palo Cortado Sherry casks. 

Tasting Notes

Colour: Straw

Aroma: Confectionary and vanillic to start, with a delicate hint of citrus, combining to give glazed poundcake topped with lemon meringue. There’s a gentle lift of orange blossoms and coconut flakes, with sweeter tones of honey. A subtle undercurrent hinting at something richer, of caramel, brown sugar, stewed plums and prunes, leather and liquorice. It broadly leans brighter and more confectionary, slightly candied with an array of delicate tones. It’s fresh, clean and lifted.

Taste: Medium-bodied here, it shows good richness, rather rounded and even alittle syrupy. Immediately candied with then a more medicinal touch, it develops from honey, vanilla and orange peels, to then cough syrup, with undertones of dried plums, prunes and leather. It’s slightly nippy and peppery, but rather luscious. Very slightly coastal.

Finish: The roundness recedes fairly quickly here, although heaps of aromatics press on. First with lots of orange blossoms backed by maltose and barley sugars, followed by a long lingering interweaving of candied and medicinal dimensions, with a big mintiness, swaths of herbal cough syrup, then flecks of lemons, oyster shells, earthy roots of angelica and sarsaparilla, all still backed up by maltose.

My Thoughts

More than meets the eye here, where on the surface it’s beguiling and idyllic, with these confectionary tones, if anything gently garnished by citruses and white florals, yet never too far behind is always this sense of something richer and deeper, a more brooding, darker tone of plums, prunes, leather and brown sugar, with spices of liquorice and angelica peeking out. It’s got a nice clean, freshness on the nose, and on the body is luscious and rounded in texture, with a good richness, bringing on a more medicinal and coastal quality that is really what marks the finish. Where it’s all rather straightforward up to till this point, the finish was where it clearly felt like there was something interesting happening. As the textures receded, heaps of aromatics persisted - and cohesively too - with herbal tones, citruses, coastal bits, earthy roots, all suddenly being let loose to mingle. A very solid first release that shows that Niigata Kameda clearly knows what it's doing. 

Kanpai!

@111hotpot