When people see or hear about Nikka whisky, what comes to mind might be the more commonly seen blends like Nikka From the Barrel, Nikka Days, The Nikka. But what many might not know, however, is that Nikka isn’t really just one distillery. It actually has multiple distilleries under it, with Yoichi and Miyagikyo being prominent single malt operations in their own right.

Nikka’s founder Masataka Taketsuru was a bit of a renegade child. He was a Japanese chemist who came from a family of sake brewers, and had left Japan to study Chemistry in Glasgow, Scotland.

He had apprenticed in the Longmorn Distillery (now owned by Pernod Ricard, maker of Chivas blended whisky and Absolut vodka) and even married a Scotswoman by the name of Rita before brining both her and the precious know-how on Scotch distillation back home to Japan in hopes of starting the Japanese whisky industry himself.

Masataka Taketsuru and his Scottish wife, Rita (Image Source: Wikipedia)

Back in Japan, Kotobukiya (which later became Suntory) jumped at the chance to bring the walking encyclopaedia of whisky-making on board.

Together, Masataka and Shinjiro Torii established and ran Suntory’s Yamazaki Distillery. However, disagreements in philosophy would eventually lead to Masataka splitting from Yamazaki to strike it out on his own. Wanting to find the closest appropriation to Scotland that Japan had for his first distillery, Masataka soon set down roots in Hokkaido in 1934, starting the Yoichi Distillery.

Located at the northernmost part of Japan's collection of islands, Hokkaido was actually one of the last areas to be developed. The incredible temperate weather to snowy winters, gorgeous scenery and bountiful abundance of natural resources made Hokkaido the perfect candidate for Masataka.

It also helped that the crisp, clean air and humidity was a near carbon-copy to the Scottish Highlands. Being close to the sea, briny sea winds also provided an additional boon to Yoichi’s production and maturation processes, much like whisky made in the Scottish Highlands.

As such, Yoichi produces robust and complex whiskies characterized by notable peatiness a mix of spicy fruit notes. In contrast, Miyagikyo, situated in Miyagi Prefecture, creates delicate whiskies known for their lighter character with prominent tropical fruit notes complemented by subtle floral and herbal nuances.

Today, we'll be looking at three expression in Yoichi's Key Malts series. The Key Malts series from Yoichi and Miyagikyo represents an interesting line of single malts intended to showcase 3 components of whiskies used to create the classic single malt expressions from either distilleries. Whereas Miyagikyo's Key Malts comprises of a Fruity & Rich, a Malty & Soft and a Sherry & Sweet components, Yoichi's Key Malts consist of a Woody & Vanillic, a Peaty & Salty (remember that Yoichi is Nikka's peated malt), and a Sherry & Sweet component. 

So let's get stuck in!

Yoichi Single Malt Woody & Vanillic, 55% ABV

Tasting Notes

Colour: Amber

Aroma: Very deep woodiness, along with incense, lacquered wood, coconut cream, it’s really big and aromatic. With more on vanilla and even some of that wood grain. It’s got a very good richness, and feels Mizunara driven.

Taste: Nice punchiness to start off here. The medium body here is superbly rich, almost a massive block of honey, sugared pineapples and vanilla cream. It’s very firm and dense. There’s a little bit of Sherry qualities here of leather, cooked plums, figs, prunes. More of that coconut cream, incense, wood grains. It’s incredibly creamy and velvety.

Finish: More of that Mizunara, a little bit ashy too, and then more of that sweet vanilla cream, coconut flakes, sugared pineapples. It’s peppery, with again that firm yet light bit of wood grain.

My Thoughts

 This isn’t as woody as named, the wood grains are certainly very much noticeable, but they don’t impart much in the way of bitterness or dryness, instead it’s bold yet quite subtle. It also has a strong incense note to it that makes it feel very Mizunara driven. Yet overall while it does feel very rich and dense, with a really concentrated quality to the flavours, it somehow also seems alittle closed off, with not so much in the way of depth for you to get into - almost got me feeling locked out of its core!

My Rating: 7.5/10 

Score/Rating Scale :

• 9-10 : Exceptional, highly memorable, 10/10 would buy if I could.

• 7-8 : Excellent, well above most in its category, worth considering buy-zone.

• 4-6 : Good, okay, alright; a few flaws, but acceptable; not bad, but not my personal preference; still worth trying, could be a buy if the price is right.

• 1-3 : Not good; really did not enjoy; wouldn't even recommend trying.

• 0: Un-scored, might be damaged, new make, or very unusual.

Yoichi Single Malt Peaty & Salty, 55% ABV 

Tasting Notes

Colour: Amber 

Aroma: It comes off gentle but with a big briny coastal note, it’s backed by lots of vanilla, with some runny honey, and light smokiness in the back. It’s quite vanillic heavy.

Taste: Medium bodied, it’s definitely a lot more peaty here, a lot more medicinal, with that cough syrup and iodine, that leads into oyster shells and kombu seaweed - it’s really punchy, very herbaceous, all laid over a bed of honeyed sweetness.

Finish: More ashy here, lots of those vegetal herbaceous notes, with a slight saltiness and smokiness here too. Finally a light hit of honey and then a little bit of acridness into the finish.

My Thoughts

This is alittle deceptively gentle on the nose, which feels fresh, coastal, lots of vanilla, but then you get to the palate, and boy is it punchy! It’s quite a big hitter here, and then you get a rush of all that more classically Islay styled medicinal qualities, lots of iodine, saltiness, herbaceousness, it all rushes forth hot and heavy! There’s thankfully a lifeline of honey sweetness for you to cling on to amidst that charge of big peatiness. It winds down alittle into the finish although that slight bitter acridness of ash carries through to the end, with again just a slight honeyed note to provide some approachability. This should go down well with Islay whisky fans! It’s definitely interesting, especially the saltiness that goes nicely with the honeyed candied malty base, but I have to concede I was no match for this.

My Rating: 7/10 

Score/Rating Scale 

• 9-10 : Exceptional, highly memorable, 10/10 would buy if I could.

• 7-8 : Excellent, well above most in its category, worth considering buy-zone.

• 4-6 : Good, okay, alright; a few flaws, but acceptable; not bad, but not my personal preference; still worth trying, could be a buy if the price is right.

• 1-3 : Not good; really did not enjoy; wouldn't even recommend trying.

Lok Bing Hong A budding journalist that loves experiencing new things and telling people's stories. I have 30 seconds of irresponsibly sanctimonious brilliance a day. I do not decide when they come. They are not consecutive.