Hall of Fame

Mike Miyamoto first joined Suntory in 1978, more than 40 years ago, when he started work at the Yamazaki Distillery. Since then he has worked in many parts of the company, all adding to his wealth of experience, that in recent years he has brought to his ambassadorial duties; thrilling audiences and educating them about Japanese whisky.

In 1980, he was moved across to the US to work in the cooperage industry, coupled with cask procurement for Suntory whisky making.

He returned to Japan in 1985 and was briefly stationed at the Hakushu Distillery before proceeded to work in the blender’s room for three years, after which he relocated back overseas to London in 1990 for four years.

From 1994-1999 he was assigned as the production director at Morrison Bowmore Distillers. At that point, he returned to Tokyo as general manager/whisky blender.

From 2001-2002, Mike worked at the Hakushu Distillery in a new position as the executive general manager, a role which was followed by a return to Scotland again as deputy managing director of Morrison Bowmore Distillers for two years.

He returned to Japan as executive general manager at the Yamazaki Distillery from 2004-2010. In 2014, he was named as the global ambassador, which is the position he has been operating in since.