What other travelers are saying about Nikka Whisky Yoichi Distillery
Good place to visit if you are a Japanese whiskey lover. The shop is ok, some distilleries exclusively items for sale but no 10 years one. Tasting bar is a bit disappointing since they only have 10 years single malt but nothing
older. Other brand’s distillery seems doing a better job . Overall if you are near the Sapporo, Otaru area, worth a go but I won’t spend hours to travel to Hokkaido for it specifically.
They have a pamphlet for English speakers. A bit of a shame that no one spoke English so I could not ask any questions or understand discussions and conversations the guide had with the rest of the group.
A bit touristy and commercialised, not as authentic as other small local distilleries. But a must, given it is the birthplace of Japanese Whiskey.
Need to buy tickets in advance through their official website.
Free whiskey tour, but all in Japanese. We still learned something. We had 3 tasting, and purchased more in the museum. Unfortunately they were out of stock on the whiskey I wanted to buy.
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.
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.
