In 1923, Shinjiro Torii, the founder of Suntory, built Japan’s first malt whisky distillery in the Vale of Yamazaki. The distillery’s location is on the outskirts of Japan’s ancient capital of Kyoto offered access to a good water supply, diversity of climate and high humidity—a desirable environment for the maturation of whisky. Suntory Yamazaki has the largest market share for single malt whisky in Japan. It is currently exported to more than 10 countries. However, the amount of export to some of these countries is very little. But most of the countries import a very large quantity. The United States are the biggest importers with nearly 60% of the export in hands, after that China, England, and Indonesia in that order are the biggest importers