Taketsuru 21 years

Taketsuru

Origin

Japan

Type

Blended Malt Whisky

Barrel

Oak

Age

21 years

Alcohol

43°

Value

400 points

About the product

The Taketsuru Pure Malt 21yo is one of the most luxurious whiskies produced by Nikka. It is also quite rare these days to find a Japanese whisky that has reached a respectable age like 21yo. Stocks are largely depleted after a huge hype around Japanese whisky in the first 15 years of the 21st century. All the more reason to treat this Taketsuru 21yo with due respect.

It was named after the founder of Nikka Whisky, Masataka Taketsuru, in tribute to his undeniable role in the history of the Japanese whisky industry. It is a Pure Malt, a term still used woprdt in Japan as a synonym for Blended Malt. This means that the whisky is composed of a combination of malts from different distilleries. All the malts used for this blended malt were aged for at least 21 years in oak casks, and it was bottled at a drinking strength of 43% ABV.

On the nose, you get a gentle mix of honey, oak and a light wax, combined with fruit notes like melon and apricot and a hint of vanilla. On the palate, the fruit gets the upper hand first, with more melon and also passion fruit. This whisky has a silky mouthfeel with a creamy side. Then the spices of the wood come to the fore and also a hint of oriental spices. In the finish, which is surprisingly long considering the lower alcohol content, some dark chocolate and pepper then come to complete the symphony of flavours. A whisky to muse over distant lands, rich histories and wonderful moments.

About the brand

When Masataka Taketsuru was born in 1894 in Hiroshima, there was no such thing as whisky in Japan. He was born into a family of sake producers and was destined to make it big in that world. He went to Glasgow as a young student in 1918, first to study at Glasgow University and then to do various internships at Scottish distilleries. This included working at Longmorn, Bo'ness and Hazelburn, where he learned the ropes of malt distilling. Meanwhile, he also met Rita Cowan, whom he would marry in 1920. When he returned to Japan, he first joined Kotobukiya Ltd (which would later become Suntory) and helped build the Yamazaki distillery there. In 1934, he left the company to start his own distillery.

Dai Nippon Kaju Co. started in 1934 and Yoichi Distillery began production in 1936. At first, the focus was still on commercialising apple juice, but cloudy apple juice proved a step too far for the Japanese market and soon switched to distillates, first from apple juice and then also malt. The first Nikka Whisky appeared on the market in 1940. In 1969, Nikka built a second distillery, the Miyagikyo Distillery. Now the company could create different types of whisky, both peated and unpeated. Meanwhile, new Coffey stills had also been installed to produce grain whisky, giving them all the ingredients for both single malt whisky and blended whisky.

Masataka Taketsuru himself died in 1979 at the age of 85 and would never live to see the great hype around Japanese whisky that emerged worldwide in the 21st century. Nikka still pays tribute to their founder by naming a range of very high-quality whiskies after him, the Taketsuru Pure Malt.