Nikka Marks Miyagikyo’s 50th Anniversary With Two Ultra-Rare Malts

The moment the first drop of whisky came off the still at Miyagikyo Distillery was an intense one. Founder Masataka Taketsuru, considered by most as the Father of Japanese Whisky, tasted the first drop. He is said to have whispered under his breath, “no…,” frightening everyone around him!

But what he meant was, “No, it’s completely different from Yoichi.” And that was a good thing. Built in 1969, Miyagikyo Distillery located near Sendai in Japan’s Miyagi prefecture was the realization of Taketsuru’s second distillery – one that would be distinctive from his first, Yoichi, in Hokkaido.

Nikka has marked Miyagikyo’s 50th anniversary by releasing two limited edition single malts, illustrating its distinctive counterpoint to Yoichi. Housed in frosted-black bottles, Single Malt Miyagikyo Limited Edition 2019 and Single Malt Yoichi Limited Edition 2019 will each retail for $3,500 in the U.S., with only 70 bottles of each available. Each expression is a composition of whiskies from the past five – 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. In the case of the Miyagikyo expression, the single malt contains some of the very first whisky coming out of the distillery.  Both malts are also bottled at 48% ABV each. They are essentially mirror images of each other.

While Yoichi Distillery is located near the sea, producing rich, peaty whiskies, Miyagikyo is surrounded  by  mountains  and  sandwiched  between  two  fresh  water  rivers,  providing  excellent  humidity  and  air  quality conditions for soft and mild malt; it is also home to two Coffey stills. To reflect the distinctive environments of the two distilleries, each limited edition features a nod to its home – the background design of Yoichi denotes the sea, while the Miyagikyo expression is a nod to mountains.