Museum, History of Masataka, founder of Nikka. . Free entry.. enter from the back to access. Able to pay to taste but driving 😔. each bottle price same as outside, except option to buy with packaging as a gift.
I tagged along for this boring tour of a liquor that I do not drink.
If you book a tour (around 30 minutes total), you’ll be escorted throughout the grounds. But, the tour is in Japanese, so an app is required if you need translation. Or, just read what’s on the laminated paper given to you at the start of the tour. According to the spouse, it was word for word.
It starts out with a video of the brewery’s history and whisky making process. You then are escorted around the grounds to see buildings and displays but no actual whisky making is occurring. The tour ends with a tasting flight of whisky in their large, air conditioned tasting room. The gift shop is the last stop.
WHISKY TASTING:
Apple Wine - Sweet & smooth; I could taste notes of the wooden barrel.
Super Nikka - Nasal clearing and super strong.
Singlemalt Yoichi - Milder than the Super Nikka. I found that mixing the latter two
with carbonated water made for a smoother taste.
TIP:
Whiskey (with an “e”) is produced in the United States and Ireland. Whisky (without the “e”) is from Scotland, Canada and Japan.
OVERALL:
The tour would’ve been way more interesting if you could visually see the processes, not just using your imagination.
If you have even a passing interest in whisky, whiskey, or hard liquor in general, you will enjoy this tour where you are guided through the history of Nikka and the whisky-making process. The tour includes several of the original buildings from the distillery’s founding that are now considered to be cultural buildings. The free tasting is the icing on the cake, as all these samples were generous pours and tasted great. Of course, can’t miss the gift shop, where in addition to fun merchandise, limited edition whiskies are available for purchase.
Important note regarding the distillery limited items: many of them (especially those without Yoichi in its name) can also be found at the Miyagikyo distillery. And the Nikka Apple Wine isn’t distillery limited after all. If your travels take you to Aomori or Hirosaki, the Nikka Apple Wine can be found at several of the souvenir stores in those towns.
@Maui World Travelers maybe you should have paid attention to the tour or your laminated paper instead of typing this drivel. There is definitely whisky making happening all over the facility. Multiple stills are going at once and there are guys shoveling coal to heat the stills…it doesn’t get more active than that. And idk if you were seriously expecting to see the fermentation process happening in the wash tanks, but that building is full of the smell of peat and malt. Not sure how you missed it. If you’re so disinterested in this brand, why did you bother to book this high demand tour that fills up quickly? Just to complain? Get a life.
Free tour with a small tasting at the end. You can also order other whisky and taste those for a fee. During the tour, you get to see and smell part of the process. I was lucky to see the coals be reloaded which is unique to Yoichi.
The museum is nice and you can walk through it at your own pace.
Keep an eye on the clock as the shop closes shortly after the museum. The parking lot also closes around the same time so make sure to get your car out in time.
Manage to get a booking to enter the distillery tour in advance. Advance reservation required. It was free. It was a great experience and seeing the history and process of whisky making. The free tasting was such a treat. I wouldn’t come again though because I think it’s good enough to come once and experience it all also because it’s much further out from the city.
