Yoichi Single Malt

This Yoichi Single Malt unaged version was released in 2016 as a standard product that truly captures the authentic style of Yoichi malt, at a time when many Japanese whiskey producers stopped releasing aged whiskeys due to the high demand that could not be met. By blending different malt whiskeys together, this bottling expresses a delicate balance between smoky and fruity aromas.

Yoichi is laid out almost like a small village with old stone houses. When buildings are demolished in the nearby village of Otaru, Nikka buys up the stones in case they need to renovate the historic buildings at Yoichi in the future. The whiskey produced here is relatively heavily smoked and a bit heavier than the style at Miyagikyo. Yoichi is one of the last distilleries in the world where the boilers are “direct fired” and every 8 minutes an employee has to shovel coal into the furnace under the boiler.

Yoichi Single Malt is a range of single malt expressions from Yoichi Distillery, Nikka’s first distillery built in 1934. Founder Masataka Taketsuru chose the town of Yoichi in Hokkaido because of the similar environmental conditions to Scotland, where he learned whiskey making. Yoichi malts are described as bold and strong with refined peat notes and smokiness brought about by the traditional direct coal-fired distillation. The sea breeze from Ishikari Bay gives the whiskey a salty hint during maturation.

This unaged version was released in 2016 as a standard product that truly captures the authentic style of Yoichi malt, at a time when many Japanese whiskey producers stopped releasing aged whiskeys due to the high demand that could not be met. By blending different malt whiskeys together, this bottling expresses a delicate balance between smoky and fruity aromas.