Roland Ng, General Manager for the Americas and Brand Ambassador at Japan’s Kanosuke Distillery, has been named World’s Best World Whisky Brand Ambassador at the 2026 World Whiskies Awards in London. The recognition highlights Ng’s role in expanding the Kagoshima-based distillery’s footprint across the American market through education and community engagement.
Ng is based in San Francisco and joined Kanosuke Distillery in 2024 after a career in the global technology sector. He was already deeply embedded in the whisky world, having founded international whisky events across the United States.
Since his appointment, Ng has led the brand’s U.S. market launch. He also spearheaded the coordinated 2025 global release of all three expressions of The Ghost Series #23 × Kanosuke across Japan, Asia, Europe, and the Americas.
The individual honor was not the only award Kanosuke collected at the ceremony. The distillery’s Production Team won an Icons of Whisky award for refining Kanosuke’s signature rich and fruity spirit into a more malt-forward and structured profile through technical exchanges with overseas distilleries and staged dilution techniques.
The Visitor Attraction Team also took home a win. The team was recognized for immersive tours and blending programs, including the premium "Legacy of Komasa" tour connecting Kanosuke Distillery and the Hioki Distillery, as well as sustainability-focused tourism initiatives in Kagoshima.
Kanosuke earned further recognition in the taste category. Hioki Pot Still "The Mellow Bar Reserve" (61% ABV), a Japanese duty-free exclusive, was awarded Japan’s Best Pot Still Whisky and selected as a Global Finalist, competing alongside category winners from Scotland, Ireland, and other world whisky regions.
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The World Whiskies Awards, founded by Whisky Magazine in the UK, is one of the industry’s leading competitions. It evaluates more than 1,500 entries annually through blind tastings conducted by an international panel of experts. The accompanying Icons of Whisky program recognizes the people and places whose work forms the foundation of the global whisky industry.
Kanosuke Distillery, located in Kagoshima, Japan, combines over 140 years of shochu-making expertise with innovative whisky production techniques. The distillery has rapidly emerged as a notable voice in the growing Japanese whisky category, which continues to attract significant global consumer and trade interest.
