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.

Black Nikka Rich Blend is a blend launched in Japan in 2013. Nikka Black was created in 1965 and quickly became a classic for the brand. A lighter, unpeated version named Black Nikka Clear Blend was introduced in 1997 to suit the tastes of the time. Rich Blend, for its part, was for fans looking for a more pronounced flavour and Nikka recommended serving it on the rocks. It includes unpeated and lightly peated whisky from Miyagikyo and heavily peated whisky from Yoichi with a generous share of sherry casks in the blend. The grain whisky was distilled at Miyagikyo in its Coffey still.