Nikka Yoichi 15-Year-Old Japanese Whisky For Sale

This is a single malt from the Yoichi distillery, Nikka\’s first distillery built-in 1934.

ABOUT NIKKA YOICHI
Hokkaido benefits from a climate closer to Scotland than anywhere else in Japan. Surrounded by mountains on three sides and sea on the other, the distillery is located to the west of Sapporo. Hokkaido is the only part of Japan to have local access to peat, and originally, the local peat bogs were the source of Yoichi’s subtle smoky character, gently drying the malted barley during the kilning process.  Yoichi\’scoal-fired stills, stills which are no longer present at any distillery in Scotland, remain in use to this day and add a unique flavor to the whisky and a nod to its heritage.

Masataka Taketsuru is the father of Japanese whisky. His family owned a sake brewery that dated to 1733. Taketsuru was taught early that sake-making is a painstakingly fine art and he studied diligently, training as a chemist and preparing to carry on the family trade.

In 1920, Taketsuru returned to Japan and joined Kotobukiya, a spirits company, to produce the first Japanese whisky.In 1934, he established Nikka Whisky and built its first whisky distillery called Yoichi on the island of Hokkaido.  The Yoichi distillery produces coastal and delicately peated whiskies, supported by perfectly balanced oak maturation.

Taketsuru’s growing success allowed him to establish a second distillery, Miyagikyo, in 1969 on the main island of Honshu.

Masataka Taketsuru passed away just 10 years after the construction of Miyagikyo, at the age of 85.