Nikka

Nikka is a large Japanese group that produces many whiskies and owns Yoichi and Miyagikyo.

Nikka: Masataka Taketsuru, Yoichi and Miyagikyo

At the origin, there is a man: Masataka Taketsuru. Born in 1894, son of a sake producer, he joined the Settsu Shozo company. The latter wanted to launch into whisky and Masataka Taketsuru seemed promising. He left for Scotland to study chemistry. It is there that he will become an apprentice in distilleries and will meet his wife, Rita.

In 1922, this iconic couple of the whisky world returned to Japan, then in crisis. Masataka Taketsuru then left Settsu Shozo. He was then recruited by Kotobuyika (which would become Suntory) in 1923 to supervise the construction of Yamazaki. However, the first whisky produced, "Shirofuda", was a commercial failure.

However, persevering, Masataka Tasketsuru left Kotobuyika. In 1934, he created his own company, Nippon Kaju Co. and built Yoichi the same year.
While waiting for the whiskies to mature, he offered fruit juices made from Hokkaido apples.

Later, the first whisky of the firm was launched (in 1940). Then, in 1952, the name of his company was permanently changed to Nikka Whisky Distilling Company.

Although Rita died in 1961, Masataka Taketsuru continued his ambitions by setting up Sendai Distillery (later renamed Miyagikyo ) in 1969.
Unfortunately, a decade later, he died in his turn. Despite this, the philosophy of the founder was maintained.

In 1985, the famous Nikka From The Barrel was born and in 1989, Yoichi and Sendai (later Miyagikyo) released single malts.

Finally, in 2001, Nikka arrived in Europe to our great pleasure.

Nikka: single malts, blended malts, blends and more...

Today, Nikka remains ubiquitous and is the emblem of Japanese whisky.

Alongside the essential blends Nikka From The Barrel, Nikka 12 Years and Super Nikka Rare Old, the two single malts Yoichi and Miyagikyo can be discovered.

In addition, there is a range of blended malts, namely Taketsuru Pure Malt.

Finally, new products have recently arrived such as Nikka Coffey Grain and Nikka Coffey Malt. Also, we can mention the birth in 2017 of a Coffey Gin and a Coffey Vodka. Read less