Continued from post here.
After the Curb Market, it was time for something I really wanted to do, and that was to visit the Yoichi Distillery. This was a real treat for me as I am a big fan of Japanese Whisky. I have in my collection bottles from the popular Suntory (makers of Yamazaki, Hakushu, and Hibiki), Nikka (Yoichi and Miyagakyo), and Ichiro’s Malt (including a bottle of Hanyu). So visiting a distillery for the first time was a major treat of our vacation.
According to Stefan Van Eycken, author of “Whisky Risking”, Yoichi was founded by Masataka Taketsuru, who many recognize as one of the founders of what is Japanese Whisky today. If your are interested in the book, you can purchase it at amazon, which I linked here. It is claimed that Taketsuru felt that Yoichi is the perfect place to set up a whisky distillery as the climate and terrain is similar to Scotland. Taketsuru based this on the fact that earlier in his career he worked in a Scotland and even married Rita (Jessie Roberta Cowan) who is from Scotland. Rita is also notable in that she is recognized as the “mother of Japanese whisky” as there is a recent daily soap opera featuring Rita’s life that was won a large following in Japan. I’m sure this soap opera also helped to popularize the branding of Yoichi’s whisky, as a bottle of Yoichi 20 year costed about $220US back in 2014, but now cost about 4-5x as much due to both it’s popularity and it being discontinued. 
The city of Yoichi is about an hour train ride from Sapporo. Right when you get off the JR line, you will find empty cask of Nikka’s old barrels, highlighting your arrival. As you can see, I did bring the entire family with me as the distillery is kid friendly.
The distillery is about a 5 minute walk from the train station and you really cannot miss it. Admission is free for everyone and they have several language brochures of the distillery, including in English.
The distillery is huge, which separate buildings for the different stages of the whisky process.
It also clearly caters to visitors as there are many photo opportunities and tours guides scheduled throughout the day.
There are cask of the empty whisky barrels placed everywhere and with the well maintained property grounds, reminded you that you are at an active distillery.
These are the pot stills made of copper and used to separate the alcohol from the water by boiling . Yoichi uses coals in the traditional Scotland ways due to the influence from Taketsuru’s time in Scotland. Not pictured, but you can also visit the kiln tower (dries and stops the malting process and adds peat from the smoke), the mash house (where the malted dried barley is crushed and hot water added to become wort), the wash-house (where the wort has yeast added to ferment).
It’s a whisky lovers paradise to see and visit each step of the whisky making process, but for me the highlight is always seeing the filled up whisky barrels that are sitting in the warehouse and slowly aging. You know that the liquid nectar is slowly evaporating and becoming more concentrated as its taste profile is influenced by the wood barrels used.
The highlight of the distillery is the Nikka Gaiken, aka the tasting room. Once you enter upstairs you have a multi-language sign showing the each person is limited to one small of each type of alcohol. It is purely based on an honor system as no one watches what you take.
There is really nothing that is rare offered in the tasting, but it does not mean it is not good. First up is apple wine, which is an apple brandy made from locally grown apples. Add a couple of rocks, and this was my wife’s favorite.
I’m a big fan of Taketsuru’s Pure Malt which is a blend from casks from both Yoichi and Miyagakyo (another Nikka distillery in Sendai, Japan). The Yoichi adds the peat profile, while the Miyagikyo adds the fruity balance. One thing to note is that this is the Non Age Statement bottle, meaning it can have younger whisky bottled in. It’s good, but I prefer the aged statements such as the 17 and 21 much more.
The last tasting use a Nikka Super. I’m guessing the blend is mostly from Miyagakyo as it is fruitier in profile. At 2700 yen it’s a bargain as it’s very easy to drink.
There is also Asahi Oolong tea you can help yourself to. Asahi owns Nikka.
Not to be left out, but the kids can also have apple juice if they don’t like tea, or you can chase down your whisky tasting for the adults.
At the end of the counter, there is a paid area, where you can order more premium items. Given it’s the afternoon, the free tasting was more than enough for me.
We wrapped up our trip with a visit to the gift shop, where you can buy some distillery only bottling, such as the “Sherry and Sweet”, “Salty and Peaty”, “Yoichi 2000s”, Apple Brandy 12 year, and “Woody and Vanilliac” bottles.
Unfortunately, most of the better stuff were all sold out such as the Taketsuru 17 and 21, which is priced at over 50% off what it would cost me in the states.
I really enjoyed visiting Yoichi as I got a first hand look at how Japanese whisky is made and learned some of its history. On a side note, I recently visited the Yamazaki distillery located near Osaka, and it further enriched my knowledge and appreciation of Japanese whisky. Look for it in the future.
Next post will be back to Sapporo.
Besides the book I mentioned, here are some other really good books I have bought from Amazon on Japanese whisky: