Yoichi

Located in the north of the archipelago, about 50 km west of the city of Sapporo on the island of Hokkaido, the Yoichi distillery was built in 1934 by Masataka Taketsuru, the founder of the Nikka brand.

The regional climate close to that of Scotland, as well as the presence of peat bogs and a very pure water source are the ideal conditions that Taketsuru was looking for in order to build his own distillery, the very first of his Nikka brand. The harsh winters where temperatures are mostly negative, the sea air and the use of peat for malting barley are at the origin of the strong, powerful and more or less peaty character of Yoichi whiskies.

The distillery has six stocky traditional pot stills designed to produce a generous and robust spirit, which are unique in the world in that they are heated by direct flame, as Scottish distilleries once were. 

After falling victim to its own success, the Yoichi distillery had no choice but to stop production of its range of aged single malts, of which the Yoichi 10 Year Old was the proud representative thanks to the first ever title of Best Whisky in the World awarded to a Japanese whisky.

Today, the future of the distillery is assured by the great creativity of Nikka's Master Blenders, of which Tadashi Sakuma, one of the best, is at the origin of the recent unaged versions of the Yoichi single malt, which he has produced in several editions such as Yoichi Apple Brandy, Rum Cask, Bourbon and Sherry Wood.