Nikka is Japan’s second biggest distiller, and with a rich history of producing whisky dating back to 1934. It produces a large range of single malts and blended whiskies through its two distilleries Yoichi and Miyagiko.
Founded in 1934, Nikka is a brand intertwined with Scotch. It’s founder discovered a love of Scottish whisky, bringing back some secrets of the trade to Japan. Its first distillery was Yoichi, which Masataka thought was one of the most ideal place in Japan to craft whisky. He was employed by Shinjiro Torii, owner of the company which would become Suntory. A site with excellent water was found at Yamazaki, on Honshu, Japan’s southern island, but Taketsuru would have preferred to build on Hokkaido, the northern island, which seemed to him more like Scotland.
Nikka Whisky Distilling Company owns the Ben Nevis Distillery in Scotland.
The founder, Masataka Taketsuru studied organic chemistry at the University of Glasgow in 1919.
Nikka’s headquarters is in Tokyo, Japan.
History
The Nikka Whisky Distilling Company was founded by Masataka Taketsuru, ‘the Father of Japanese Distilling’, in 1934. During the early 1920’s he had studied malt distilling in Scotland and his ambition was to establish a malt whisky distillery in Japan on the Scottish model. Whisky was not well-known as a product in Japan, and Masataka brought a combination of chemistry expertise and entrepreneurship to the industry. Nikka is now the second biggest producer of whisky in Japan.
Taste Profile
Nikka is known for flavours of...
Cinnamon
Orange
Berries
Walnuts
You may also like
Yamazaki
One of Suntory’s most well-known single malt whiskies, both in Japan and across the world.