An unavoidable bottle when talking about Japanese whisky: Nikka Taketsuru Pure Malt. Named for Masataka Taketsuru, founder of Nikka Whisky. It's a pure blended malt drawing on Nikka's two distilleries — Yoichi and Miyagikyo.
In 2020 the line dropped its age-statements (17, 21, 25) and re-launched as a single non-vintage (NV). The current bottle still holds the brand's philosophy together and works as a sane house pour.
Where Yoichi meets Miyagikyo
Taketsuru built two distilleries with deliberately opposite characters. Yoichi sits in cool Hokkaido, runs direct coal-fired stills and produces a heavy, peated new-make. Miyagikyo sits in a Tōhoku valley, runs steam-heated stills and produces fruitier, less peated malt. Taketsuru Pure Malt blends both — embodying Nikka's stated ideal of a "Japanese whisky." 43% ABV.
The nose opens with sherry-cask dried fruit, then a Yoichi saline note and Miyagikyo's fruitier malt, with a thread of peat behind. The palate gives honey and caramel, then cask aroma and a soft smoke. The finish is medium with both distilleries running in parallel. At 43% it's drinkable neat; on the rocks or as a highball it doesn't fall apart.
Beyond the "Taketsuru loss"
The discontinuation of Taketsuru 17 / 21 / 25 in 2020 — driven by stock shortages — shocked the Japanese whisky scene; for a while people called it the "Taketsuru loss." But the NV that remained isn't a watered-down compromise. It reads more as "the Taketsuru philosophy reconstructed from the stocks currently available." Keeping the bottle on a shelf at home means seeing Japanese whisky's history and present at once.
The label "Taketsuru" is the name of a man who studied whisky in Scotland and chose to start over from scratch in Japan. When the glass meets your lips, that small weight rides along.
Masataka Taketsuru and Nikka
Masataka Taketsuru (1894–1979)
Born in Takehara, Hiroshima. Travelled to Scotland in 1918, studied chemistry at Glasgow University, and apprenticed in whisky production at Highland distilleries (Longmorn, Campbeltown). On returning to Japan he founded Dai Nippon Kaju Co. (later Nikka Whisky) in Yoichi, Hokkaido, in 1934. Considered the father of Japanese whisky.
Two-distillery design
Yoichi (1934, Hokkaido) is coal-fired and peat-leaning; Miyagikyo (1969, Miyagi) is steam-heated and fruit-leaning. Taketsuru believed Japanese whisky needed two contrasting malt streams and built the company around that philosophy.
Age-statement discontinuation
2020 saw 17, 21 and 25 discontinued due to stock pressure. The current line is NV only. The NV preserves the two-distillery composition that the brand's design rests on.
Steady domestic distribution on Amazon.co.jp.