Nikka's founder Masataka Taketsuru is considered the father of Japanese whisky. After completing studies in chemistry, he was recruited by the Settsu Shuzo company, who sent him to Scotland in 1918 to complete his apprenticeship. There he developed a passion for whisky and decided to dedicate his life to it. In 1934, he built Yoichi, his first distillery, on the island of Hokkaido. Its growing success enabled him to establish a second distillery in 1969, near Sendai, named Miyagikyo. It is from the single malts of these two distilleries that the Nikka Whisky group produces its entire range of Japanese whiskies.

A Jeroboam of Nikka from the Barrel, a blend produced by Nikka in 1984 and bottled at the unusually high ABV of 51.4%. The quality of the whisky, coupled with the shape of the bottle, led the whisky to quickly establish itself as one of the brand’’s iconic releases.