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 gift set of four bottles released to mark the 70th anniversary of Nikka, founded in 1934 by Masataka Taketsuru. It features a Yoichi 12 Year Old, a Miyagikyo 12 Year Old, a Coffey Grain 12 Year Old and a blend of all three also aged for 12 years. All were bottled at 58%. The gift set also includes a reproduction of the notebooks written by Masataka Taketsuru during his trip to Scotland, where he went to learn how to make whisky.