Located at the Iiyama Mountain Farm in Nagano Prefecture, Kiyokawa was founded on a simple but ambitious idea: complete control over the whisky-making process, from the cultivation of barley through to bottling.
Despite growing interest from whisky enthusiasts around the world, very little of the distillery's whisky has been released to date. Selected by dekantā to celebrate our 11th anniversary, Kiyokawa, The Cask - dekantā 11th Anniversary Edition, Marsala Cask, is only the second official release from the distillery. Fittingly, it was drawn from Cask #11—the 11th cask ever filled at Kiyokawa—making it both a milestone for the distillery and a snapshot of its earliest spirit.
Kiyokawa is often described as Japan's first farm-to-bottle whisky distillery.
The distillery sits alongside the farmland where its homegrown barley is cultivated, creating a close connection between agriculture and production. This approach allows the team to oversee every stage of the whisky's development and create a spirit that reflects both the raw materials and the local environment.
Production methods are equally distinctive:
Fermentation is carried out in Italian-made Garbellotto wooden fermenters and can last for up to eight days, significantly longer than the industry norm. The extended fermentation helps build greater complexity and depth within the wash before distillation begins.
The wash is then distilled in Italian-made Frilli stills, believed to be unique within Japanese whisky production. These stills help create a rich and characterful spirit with considerable texture and weight.
Together, these choices result in a whisky that is completely unwilling to compromise.
The cask selected for this release also reflects another important aspect of Kiyokawa's identity.
Founder David Troiano's Italian heritage can be seen throughout the distillery, from the equipment used during production to the philosophy behind many of its decisions. It is therefore fitting that this particular release should feature an ex-Marsala wine cask sourced from Sicily.
Many whisky drinkers are familiar with Sherry cask maturation, but Marsala casks remain comparatively uncommon. Part of the challenge is sourcing genuine ex-Marsala barrels.
Today, many wine casks used in whisky maturation are seasoned specifically for the whisky industry. While these casks can still produce good results, they are often prepared with whisky maturation in mind from the outset. Kiyokawa takes a different approach.
Each year, founder David Troiano travels to Sicily to personally select Marsala casks for the distillery. Rather than sourcing seasoned barrels through brokers, he works directly with producers and chooses casks that have spent years maturing Marsala wine before being emptied and shipped to Japan.
The casks used for this release came from a traditional "In Perpetuum" system, a maturation method closely related to the Solera systems associated with Sherry production. Like with Solera, Marsala wine is continuously refreshed through stacked barrels over many years, with older stocks blending into younger vintages while a portion is drawn off for bottling. This means the wine can contain traces of Marsala thats tens of years old, giving it a remarkable depth and consistency. The casks themselves benefit from generations of character layered into the wood through prolonged contact with Marsala wine.
By the time David selects them, these barrels have typically held Marsala for six to eight years. For whisky maturation, that history matters a lot.
Years of interaction between wine and oak leave behind concentrated flavours that cannot be replicated quickly. The wood becomes saturated with notes of dried fruit, walnut, citrus peel, spice and caramelised sugars, creating a foundation that can influence a maturing spirit for years to come.
Once shipped to Japan, the casks are filled for the first time with Kiyokawa whisky. This first-fill relationship between spirit and ex-Marsala oak allows the whisky to draw maximum character from the barrel, while still retaining the distinctive farm-to-bottle spirit that defines the distillery.
The results speak for themselves.
For dekantā, this bottling marks our 11th anniversary.
For Kiyokawa, as only the second official release from the distillery, and drawn from one of the earliest casks ever filled, it offers a rare opportunity to explore a producer that is still in the early stages of its story.
For those who follow emerging Japanese distilleries closely, releases such as this are often the most fascinating. They provide a snapshot of a distillery before its identity becomes fully established and before its earliest casks disappear into private collections.
Kiyokawa, The Cask - dekantā 11th Anniversary Edition, Marsala Cask is one such release.
Published: June 25, 2026Author: Billy Craigan