Yamazaki was founded in 1923 by Shinjiro Torii, the founder of Suntory, making it Japan's first dedicated malt whisky distillery. Torii chose the Yamazaki valley near Kyoto for its water, at the confluence of three rivers and long known locally as good water for the tea ceremony. Masataka Taketsuru, who had studied distilling in Scotland, was brought in to oversee the first production in 1924, before later leaving to found what became Nikka.
Suntory's first whisky, Shirofuda (White Label), was released in 1929 but was not well received by a domestic market unused to whisky's flavour; commercial success came later, particularly with Kakubin from 1937. Yamazaki today uses a wide variety of pot still shapes and both American and Japanese oak, including mizunara, to produce a broad range of malt styles from one site, which is what its single malt is built from.