A Japanese Whisky Pilgrimmage: Nikka

On the 90th anniversary of the founding of Nikka Whisky by Masataka Taketsuru, I retraced his path from sake brewer turned Scottish distillery trainee to apple cider-maker to the founder of the entire Japanese whisky-distilling industry, ending at the legendary Nikka Yoichi distillery.

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Author: Charlene Rooke

Charlene Rooke is a Canadian drinks journalist, consultant and educator as well as a travel, food, business and lifestyle writer. She is a WSET Spirits Educator Certified in Spirits and WSET Certified in Wine, an SWE Certified Specialist of Spirits, an SMWS educator and an artisan distiller trained at Moonshine University in Louisville, KY. She is the lead judge of the Canadian Artisan Spirits Competition and an expert on Canadian small-batch spirits who leads distillery tours and guides spirits tastings in Vancouver, Canada. A former editor at many Canadian publications and former creative lead at three content agencies, she is currently the Drinks Editor for Food & Drink, the in-store magazine of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario.