Shizuoka Pot Still W Imported Barley 2024 Edition

When Shizuoka Distillery fired up Still “W”, they chose a method most of the world abandoned two centuries ago: direct heating with crackling cedar logs. The flames reach almost 800 °C, caramelising the wash, thickening the spirit, and layering it with a subtle, hearth-like smokiness that steam-heated stills simply can’t match. 

For this 2024 release the team used nothing but imported malted barley - letting the wood-fire intensify the grain’s sweet malt and peat-smoke core. The new-make rested in ex-bourbon and new American oak, emerging with deeper hues of dark honey and toasted nuts before being bottled non-chill-filtered and natural in colour. 

Initially offered only across Japan, Pot Still W 2024 was gone almost overnight. Any bottle you spot abroad is a rare opportunity to taste a historic firing technique reborn in modern craft. One sip delivers rich malt sweetness, a flicker of campfire, and the kind of depth only real flames can forge.