Nikka All Malt

Nikka All Malt is true to its name and reputation — 100% malted barley and delicious.

Masataka Taketsuru was the son of a Sake producer. As a young man he was sent to Scotland to learn the secrets of Whisky. He did… but he also learned about love. He met Rita Cowen — a Scottish lass whom he married and took back to Japan with him. In 1934, he founded Yoichi Distillery in southern Hokkaido on a spot surrounded on three sides by mountains — a terrain and climate very similar to the Scottish Highlands. Yoichi has its own cooperage and makes its casks on-site using new oak, producing big, oily Whiskies in the Highland style.

The marketing material for Nikka All Malt can be confusing because it discusses including “grain Whisky.” Not True! Nikka calls all of the spirits produced in their Coffey Stills “grain” even when it its 100% malted barley. So even though they do produce some grain Whiskies at Nikka, All Malt has none of it. What Nikka All Malt actually is, is a vatted or blended Whisky made from 100% malted barley from across their product lines. It’s like sampling all of their Single Malt products of various ages mixed together in a single dram.