Nikka Whisky Distilling Co.

Nikka Whisky Distilling Co. — a Japanese distillery company founded in 1934 by Masataka Taketsuru, who studied distillation in Scotland. Controlled by Asahi Group, it operates Yoichi (Hokkaido, coastal peat) and Miyagikyo (Sendai, fruity lightness). Flagship brands: Nikka From The Barrel, Taketsuru Pure Malt and the Yoichi/Miyagikyo single malts.

Nikka's history is above all the biography of Masataka Taketsuru, the "father of Japanese whisky". In 1918 he sailed to Scotland, studied chemistry in Glasgow and apprenticed at distilleries (Longmorn, Hazelburn), returning to Japan in 1920 with his Scottish wife, Jessie "Rita" Cowan.

After years at Kotobukiya (today's Suntory), where he built the Yamazaki distillery, in 1934 he founded his own company Dai Nippon Kaju in Yoichi, Hokkaido — selling apple juice until the whisky matured. The "Nikka" name (from Nippon Kaju) first appeared on a bottle in 1940; the firm was renamed The Nikka Whisky Distilling Co. in 1952.

In 1969 Taketsuru opened a second distillery — Miyagikyo near Sendai — for softer, fruitier spirit for the blends. In 1989 Nikka bought the Scottish distillery Ben Nevis, at the foot of Britain's highest peak. The company is now owned by Asahi Group Holdings, which leaves its traditional production methods untouched.