If you like Whisky you must try the local drop. It is called Nikka Whisky from the Yoichi Distillery which is about a 45 minute drive toward Otaru from Niseko. One of the cheapest bottles and our favourite is the “Nikka Whisky From The Barrel” pictured above. It has a mellow sweetness to it and retails in the local Kutchan supermarkets for 1,900-2,600 JPY a bottle.
The founder of the Yoichi Distillery was Masataka Taketsuru who travelled to Scotland where he studied whisky making at Glasgow University. In 1920 he returned with his young Scottish wife and started making the first Japanese Whisky. There is a lovely story about Masataka, The founder of Japanese Whisky, on the distillery’s website: www.nikka.com/eng
At the distillery there are guided tours leaving every 30 mins only in Japanese though and you can sample 3 different whiskies – The above pictured whisky blended from multiple types of malt and grain, A blended pure malt and A Coffey Grain Whiskey.
The Distillery is open all year round from 9am-4:30pm and the telephone number for your cars sat nav is: 0135 233131
