31 August 2023
Nikka Distillery recently resumed the free guided tour of their production facilities after Covid-19 restrictions were lifted. And this tour concludes with a complimentary tasting session.
Being a fan of whisky, my son’s eyes lit up when I told him I was planning to include a visit to the Nikka Yoichi Distillery in our Hokkaido itinerary. However, reservations for the tour could only be made by phone or online through Nikka’s Japanese language website.
Online booking of tour is available only 4 weeks before the desired tour date. Using Google Translate to help me decipher the Japanese webpage, I managed to submit the necessary information on the online booking form on August 3 to book our tour for 31 August.
Note: the booking of the guided tour is now available on their English language website.
Tour starts every 30 minutes from 9.00 hr to 12.00 noon and then 13:00 to 15:00 hr. Tour duration is approximately 70 minutes including production process tour and tasting. It is best to go by public transport if you want to taste whiskey at end of the tour.
Yoichi is a small seaside town that lies between Otaru and Shakotan. I planned to travel to Yoichi from Otaru by train which takes about 25 minutes. The only problem is that this train is infrequent (one every 2 hours). Alternatively, we could take travel by public bus as well, which takes slightly longer but the service is more frequent.
I chose the 10.30 AM tour as it best matches the timing for the 9.38 AM train from Otaru bound for Kutchan.
Soon after submitting the required information, I was glad to receive an email (in Japanese) confirming my reservations.
On the day of the tour, we checked out of the Otaru Authent Hotel and left our luggage with the hotel as we had planned to travel to Sapporo later in the afternoon. We had a nice seafood breakfast at the Sankaku Market, located next to the Otaru JR train station.
We arrived at train station way ahead of time as we cannot afford to miss the infrequent train to Yoichi. We bought tickets from a ticketing machine at the train station since IC card cannot be used on this train service. Apparently, Yoichi JR station does not have an IC card reader.
Trains in Japan run like clockwork, leaving and arriving on time. The train to Yoichi is not crowded and the travel was uneventful.
Exiting the Yoichi JR Station, the front gate of the Nikka Distillery is a 5 minutes walk from main entrance of the train station.
Registration at the Front Gate was done 15 minutes before start time of the tour.
The guided tour starts at the Visitor Center. The tour was conducted in Japanese by enthusiastic young lady dressed in nice uniform and hat. We were briefed on how to download a Nikka app on our mobile phone using the free Wi-Fi so we could listen to a video guide in English or other languages. Photography is allowed, but video recording is prohibited.
We were shown an introduction movie of the Yoichi Distillery and overview of the whisky production process.
Yoichi Distillery is Nikka’s first distillery established in 1934 by the founder Masataka Taketsuru, who learnt whisky making in Scotland. Yochi, close to the sea and surrounded by mountains, has an appropriate humidity, crisp clean air, and freshwater which is perfect for making whisky. This historical distillery uses the traditional coal fired distillation to make bold and rich malt whisky.
Leaving the visitor center, we were shown the kiln towers with the distinctive red roofs. A kiln tower is to dry the germinating barley with peat smoke and make malt. Yoichi’s kiln towers are no longer in use.
Next to the kiln towers are the milling and mashing house. This is the place where milled barley is mixed with water in a mash tun and enzymes in the malt convert starch into sugar to make wort.
The next place we visited was the Wash House where yeast is added to the wort to start fermentation. Sugar is converted into alcohol and carbon dioxide during fermentation. The wash is sent through underground pipes to the still house.
The wash is distilled twice in brass pot stills that are heated by direct coal fire. These fires are controlled by skilled craftsmen and require constant monitoring. Although it involves more work, this traditional method contributes to giving Nikka whisky its bold and rich taste.
Close-up photo of the straw rope fastened to the top of each still. This is a talisman for good quality and safety.
The new make whisky are then filled into oak casks at the vatting house. The vatting house is also the place where the whisky that has finished maturing are removed from the casks and consolidated.
After learning the whisky production process and viewing the production facilities, we were led further into the large campus to view some interesting historical buildings.
It was at the former founder’s office that we learnt the origin of the Nikka name. The company first started out as “Dai Nippon Kajyu” meaning the “Great Japanese Juice Company”. Yoichi happened to be the first place to grow apples in Japan, so Masataka started to make and sell apple-related products such as juice and wine while waiting for the whisky to mature in their casks.
The first whisky released in 1940 is named Nikka taking the “Ni” from Nippon and “ka” from Kajyu. The company name was then changed to The Nikka Whisky Distilling Co, Ltd in 1952.
Close to the founder’s office is Rita’s House. Rita is the name of the founder’s wife but this is not where she lived. This used to operate as the Nikka Whisky’s laboratory for about 50 years until 1984.
Rita’s house.
The next building we saw was Masataka’s and Rita’s old residence. This house was originally located in Yamada-cho, a suburb of Yoichi, but relocated to the distillery in 2002. The house showcases both Western and Japanese architectural influences as a reflection of the two’s marriage.
Masataka and Rita’s old residence.
The tour ended in one of the warehouses (warehouse No. 1) where casks of whisky were left to mature. It is interesting to note that the floor of the warehouse is exposed soil to retain moderate humidity and the exterior walls are made of stone to keep the air cool in summer.
We were allowed into one of the warehouses see the whisky that are left to mature in oak casks.
The floor of the warehouse is made of soil to retain moderate humidity.
A diagram in the warehouse summarises the whisky production process.
After the guided tour, we were led past the Nikka Museum and Rita’s Kitchen to the Tasting Hall.
Note: Rita Kitchen is a restaurant serving lunch, light meals and of course highballs. We did not eat here.
The famous Nikka logo featuring the King of Blenders in the ground floor entrance of the Tasting Hall. It is debatable who the Western looking man in the logo was.
At the tasting bar on the second floor, we were introduced to the whisky that we would taste.
Apple Wine, Super Nikka, and Single Malt Whisky.
We could help ourselves to ice cubes, cold water and carbonated water from the self service counter at the bar. What was offered was not as elaborate and fun as the tasting we did at the Suntory Yamazaki Distillery near Kyoto which was a paid distillery tour.
We were left to taste the whisky at our leisure (before the next group arrives 30 minutes later). I had the apple wine first before tasting the Super Nikka and Single Malt. The apple wine was actually quite good.
The gift shop is located next to the Tasting House and I was looking forward to buying some limited edition whisky. In my visit to Suntory Distillery, I was able to buy the 12 years Hibiki that was not sold outside.
The range of whisky sold at the gift shop was quite limited. I bought some distillery limited whisky in 500 ml sizes to bring home. There is no tax free shopping even though we are bringing the bottles out of Japan.
Single Malt Yoichi Woody and Vanillic (Distillery Limited edition), Yoichi Blended whisky (Distillery Limited) in the blue box and a bottle of the cheaper Rare Old Super Nikka with a distillery limited design box.
I also bought some of the miniature whisky bottles to add to my collection. These are not cheap (680 yen per bottle).
Single Malt Yochi, Super Nikka and Taketsuru Pure Malt to add to my collection of miniature liquor.
We did not tour the Nikka Museum as we wanted to take the 12.22 PM train back to Otaru. We planned to have lunch at Otaru, visit Sakaimachi Street before travelling to Sapporo by train.
More about our lunch in Otaru and evening in Sapporo in the next post.
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