Get the story behind Japanese Whisky - Blog post

The history of Japanese whisky The founder of Nikka, Masataka Taketsuru (1894-1979), was born into a family with a long sake tradition. As far back as the 1700s, the family had been making sake - a Japanese drink that can be traced back more than 1,500 years. Sake is made from the best rice and pure mountain water. Taketsuru learned this art from his father and the skilled sake brewers who worked in the family house. His father often emphasized: "The soul of the brewer is reflected in the sake he makes!" At that time, it was common for the brewer to live in isolation from everyone else when brewing in order to concentrate on brewing. Taketsuru learned as a boy that quality is difficult and hard to achieve. Taketsuru studied sake brewing at university and it was his intention to carry on the family tradition of sake brewing. But Taketsuru was fascinated by Scotch whisky and when the signing of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance in 1918 allowed him to study whisky distilling in Scotland, he went to the University of Glasgow. Taketsuru became the first Japanese to study whisky making in Scotland. Taketsuru also "interned" at the following Scotch distilleries: Hazelburn in Campbeltown, Craigellachie in Speyside and Lagavulin at Islay. After several years in Scotland, he returned to Japan with the Scotch whisky secret in his pocket and a Scottish wife, Jessie Rita, under his arm. Taketsuru was employed by the mighty Suntory. He made real grain whisky in Japan for the first time in 1924. Taketsuru was keen to get into single malt - but Suntory was not interested - and Taketsuru left Suntory.