About Nikka Gold & Gold Samurai
In 1895, Masataka Taketsuru — the father of Japanese Whisky — was born in the small town of Takehara, Japan. At the time, Masataka's family owned a sake brewery, and in preparing to carry on the family trade, Masataka studied chemistry and biology at Osaka Technical High School. After graduating high school, Masataka showed more interest in whisky than in sake and in 1918, he enrolled at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, becoming the first Japanese ever to study the art of whisky-making. While in Scotland, Masataka took chemistry courses during the day while apprenticing at distilleries at night, learning to distill and blend whisky first-hand at some of Scotland's most prestigious distilleries. In 1920, Masataka returned to Japan, and within the decade, had produced the country's first single malt whisky.
In 1934, Masataka moved to the town of Yoichi and opened the doors to Nikka Whisky Co. In 1960, as the Yoichi Distillery was reaching capacity, Masataka began searching for another suitable location in Japan to open a second distillery. Following a three-year search, Masataka found a wide forest valley at the junction of the Hirosegawa and Nikkawagawa rivers. The localized humidity from the rivers and surrounding hills, together with the quality of water from Nikkawagawa River, created the perfect location for a second distillery, which he named Miyagikyo.
Originally launched in 1968, this Collectible Nikka blended whisky comes complete with its own removable metallic Samurai helmet and armor. It was originally launched in 1968 and features a blend of malts. Bottled at 40% ABV.
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About Japanese Whisky
Although maybe not be the first Spirit you would think of when Japan is mentioned; the Japanese make one of the best types of whisky in the world. It’s heavily influenced by scotch but with smoother and delicate notes.
The history of the Japanese whisky is not even a century old, but in this short time, the Japanese blended and single malts have taken over the world by storm and can easily go against their whisk(e)y counterparts from across the globe.
Check out our impressive selection of Japanese whiskies, find your new favorite in the best Japanese whiskies bottles under $200, or explore our treasury of rare & hard to find Japanese whiskies.