Nikka Miyagikyo (Sendai) Single Malt Japanese Whisky 70 cl 45%

Distillery: Miyagikyou (Sendai)
Age: NA
Type: Single Malt Japanese Whisky
Alc. strength: 45 %
70 cl.
Other: Product of Nikka - from Sendai Miyagikyo distillery

Nikka Miyagikyo
70cl / 45%
Japanese Single Malt Whisky

This single malt whisky features a sweet and elegant fragrance like fresh flowers, combined with a soft maltiness and a delicate, gentle and appealing mature essence derived from sherry casks.

The new series from the Sendai distillery - called Nikka's lowlands distillery - where Yoichi is their highlands distillery - is called Miyagikyou. The old version from the distillery - which is now on its way to extinction - was just called Sendai.

And you could say that the taste has also gone from the simple and straightforward Sendai (which is easy to pronounce) to the more complex and sophisticated Miyagikyou (which makes us curl our tongues).

And make no mistake - Yoichi has a worthy partner here - as there will be some who think Miyagikyou is better than Yoichi. There are others who can't and won't realize that one of the top 5 distilleries in the world (according to Jim Murray) has competition.

But judge for yourself.

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 continue the family's 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 Scottish 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 hired 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 wasn't interested - and Taketsuru left Suntory.
Taketsuru had found just the right place for a malt whisky distillery on the island of Hokkaido in 1934. Although Yoichi was far north, far away from customers in Tokyo, Taketsuru had no doubt that the location was right. And he was right. The Yoichi distillery remains to this day the most important distillery in the Nikka group (and is believed to be the best distillery in Asia).
Taketsuru is known as the father of the Japanese whisky industry. Taketsuru has a couple of Nikka products named after him - the 15-year-old Tsuru Deluxe blend - the most rounded of the blends from Nikka and a 17-year-old pure malt called Taketsuru (released 2004).

Nikka is today Japan's second largest whisky producer and Nikka whisky can be purchased in over 140,000 locations in Japan. So even though we don't really know Nikka, the name speaks volumes in Japan.Nikka owns the Sendai and Yoichi distilleries, as well as Ben Nevis in Scotland.