The year 2016 is turning out to be a great year for Kirin's Fuji Gotemba Distillery. Their workhorse blend, Fuji Sanroku 50°, got an overhaul and was launched in March to great acclaim. It is the only entry-level Japanese blended whisky to be presented non-chill filtered and the undisputed leader in Japan at the moment in terms of value for money. It is currently on its way to Europe - Kirin's first whisky to be exported, albeit in small quantities - so by the time you're reading this, you may be able to get your hands on a bottle.

Fuji Gotemba Distillery was also crowned at the World Whiskies Awards in London earlier this year, when the Small Batch Single Grain 25 Years Old was named best grain whisky in the world. Clearly, they must have been doing something right there for the past few decades. More than enough reason, we thought, to go and pay a visit.

Unique in Japanese whisky history, Fuji Gotemba Distillery was the result of a multinational joint venture. It was established in 1972 by Kirin Brewery Company (Japan), J E Seagram and Sons (US) and Chivas Brothers (UK). The idea was to set up a comprehensive whisky manufacturing plant where everything - from malt and grain whisky distilling to blending and bottling - could be done on site. Unlike most Japanese distilleries, which followed Scottish whisky-making practice, Fuji Gotemba adopted production techniques from all around the world in the interest of making whiskies suited to the Japanese palate. After Seagram started selling off its beverage assets worldwide, Kirin became the sole owner of Fuji Gotemba Distillery. They also acquired Four Roses Distillery in Kentucky in 2002.

In the world of whisky, today's success stories are the result of the vision and dedication to quality of those who stood at the stills years ago. We thought it fitting, therefore, to visit Fuji Gotemba Distillery when they were making the type of grain whisky that got them the 'World's Best Grain Whisky' award earlier this year. On a rainy Monday morning in late August, with typhoon Lionrock on our heels, we headed for the distillery at the foot of Japan's most iconic landmark, Mt Fuji.

In addition to malt whisky - which we won't go into this time around - three types of grain whisky are made at Fuji Gotemba Distillery. The grain whisky facility is quite compact and the equipment - a multi-column still, a kettle and a doubler - is used in a modular way. The light-type is made using the multi-column still. The medium-type (or 'batch-light', as it is called at the distillery) is produced in batches by going from the first column, the beer column, to the kettle and then to the rectifying column. The heavy-type is produced in the way that most Bourbon is made, by using the beer column in tandem with the doubler. All three types have been made since the distillery fired up its stills, but in recent years, the production of batch-light and heavy-type grain whisky has been increased. The heavy-type plays a key role in the renewed Fuji Sanroku 50°. The batch-light type is the grain whisky that went into the Small Batch 25 Years Old. It's the production process of the latter that we observed on our visit.

On our arrival, we are whisked to the grain stores. The top of the silos offer the best view of Mt Fuji, but on that dark and grey Monday morning, it's hiding behind heavy clouds.

Chief distiller Yuichiro Mese draws a sample from one of the corn silos and comments on how wonderfully plump the corn is. "When you're making flavourful grain whisky, like the batch-light type, the quality of the corn is of enormous importance." The high-quality yellow dent corn is imported from the US, the rye from Europe or Canada and the malted barley from Scotland and England.

Next, we move to the mash room where a batch is cooking. The cooker is filled with hammer-milled corn and water. After cooking this for the desired length of time, the mixture is cooled down and malted barley is added. One batch consists of around 9.6 tonnes of corn and 0.5 tonnes of malted barley.

It takes around four hours to do one mash. After the mash is cooled to 33°C, everything - solids included - is sent to one of the fermenters. Stillman Motoharu Haraga explains the process. "There are 12 fermenters: eight of them can hold two batches and four of them can hold three batches. Along with the first batch sent to each fermenter, yeast is added. Then the second (and in the case of the big fermenters, the third) batch is added. We use a proprietary yeast strain and after 72 hours, the result is a beer of 10-11% ABV."

Consistency is very important, so they don't take a break over the weekend, which would result in a longer fermentation time for some of the tanks. For every mash and fermentation, the routine is the same.

One day's worth of mashing goes into the beer well, which acts as a buffer tank. From there, it is fed to the beer still. After distillation, the low wines come out of the still at around 80% ABV. Two days' worth of low wines are then sent to the kettle, which is connected to the rectifying column, for further distillation. Spirit comes out of that column at 93.5% ABV. The process takes around 35 hours. As stillman Masao Nakamura tastes a sample of the new-make, he points out that "even though it comes off the still at the same high ABV as the continuous (light) type we make using the columns, the batch-light type has more flavour to it."

Next, the spirit is ready to be filled into wood. For each of the types of grain whisky, the team at Fuji Gotemba Distillery has calibrated the optimal filling strength and devised suitable wood management programs. The light and batch-light type of grain distillate is reduced to 62.5% ABV before it's filled into casks. For the heavy, Bourbon-style grain whisky, the entry proof is 55.5% ABV. Almost all of the spirit is filled into barrels. Depending on the type of grain whisky this can be first-fill ex-Bourbon, refill and even virgin oak, or a combination of the above. Two or three times a week, new-make is filled into casks. The filling store has an automated system that allows operation, switching back and forth between two lines. It takes a mere 42 seconds to get 185l into a cask. The bungs still have to be hammered in by hand, so with 320 casks to fill - as was the case when we were there - it's quite a good work-out for the person assigned to the filling station.

Using a specially designed trailer, the casks are moved to one of five warehouses. All spirit produced at Fuji Gotemba Distillery is matured on site. The huge, automated racked warehouses can hold between 35,000 and 50,000 casks each. They are set up for barrels only, so other sizes literally don't fit. We enter Warehouse No 4 and even warehouse manager Hiroaki Yoshikawa is taken aback by the strong smell of whisky in the air that day. As our senses acclimatise to the environment, Yoshikawa points out that "we have good access to ex-Bourbon casks thanks to our sister distillery, Four Roses. As long as we tell them a year in advance, we're good." The casks used are medium to heavy-charred. "This works well for the elegant, clean and estery style of whisky we aim for." The batch-light grain whisky is usually filled into first fill ex-Bourbon barrels. Those selected for longer ageing are generally transferred to refill casks later on.

In general, casks are sampled after three years for inventory survey purposes. After that, again depending on the style of whisky and whether it is allocated for longer maturation or not, follow-up samples are taken within three years. After checking on the progress of the maturation of a few casks with chief blender Jota Tanaka, we head back to the main distillery building and are surprised with an image of Mt Fuji that people in the area would be talking about the rest of the day: covered with a little 'hat' of clouds and a thin, long cloud below that, almost like a 'scarf'. Grateful for this blessing from the weather gods, we decide to head back up to the bridge leading to the silos for a little tasting of some drams from yesteryear, as well as a mysterious cask sample that Jota Tanaka has brought. It is superb but he refuses to say what it is. The day after I would find out.

Feeling a bit peckish after a hard day at work, we head to Watanabe Ham Kobo near Gotemba station, a butcher that does dinner but only once a month, on the 29th (29 can be pronounced 'ni-ku' in Japanese, which is also the word for 'meat'). Some of the dishes on the menu incorporate Fuji Sanroku whisky. The one that blows us away is the pork in a sauce made from two parts whisky to one part local double-fermented soy sauce with a dollop of honey. Tanaka is pleased with the pairing. "It almost brings out a baked banana note," he muses. The waiter brings another Fuji Sanroku highball. "Vigorously stir the whisky with ice 30 times, then gently add the soda," he says. We oblige.

Up bright and early the next day, we head back to the distillery. There's mist everywhere and Mt Fuji is nowhere to be found. Palates fresh, we settle into the blending lab.

Several times in the course of our tasting, Tanaka refers to the three types of grain whisky as the 'three umami brothers'. They function a bit like a kelp broth (the light-type), a dried bonito broth (the batch-light type) and a shiitake mushroom broth (the heavy type) in Japanese cooking. "We are always focused on ways in which we can maximise the character of the whisky we make. We closely monitor all stages of production and this includes maturation peak management. It's my belief that god is in the details."

There may be very little 25 Years Old grain of the batch-light type left in the warehouses at the moment, but seeing the team at work at Fuji Gotemba, I know we are good for the future. There will be many exciting whiskies coming out of the distillery in the years to come, and maybe some more Small Batch Grain 25 years from now.

Getting Technical

Grain: Maize, barley, rye (only for heavy-type grain whisky).
Mashing: 1 stainless steel cooker.
Fermentation: 12 stainless steel fermenters and 1 beer well.
Distillation: A 5 column still, a kettle and a doubler used in various configurations.