We have mentioned Rita Taketsuru and her support for her husbands businesses in Japan. This article looks at the house style generally available bottle from the Yoichi distillery and that distillery involved Rota as well.

The Distillery

The first distillery opened by Masataka and Rita Taketsuru in 1934 in the town of the same name. The distillery took a long time to come about with Rita playing an important part in both providing the finance through an inheritance but also networking, socialising and convincing partners to join the enterprise and provide the initial capital.

Today, building a distillery is a complex and expensive project but it’s important to remember that this isn’t a new problem with entrepreneurs through the ages risking it all to produce the amber nectar. The connections to Scotland continue with the location in Yoichi which is said to have been selected because of its similar climate and proximity to water.

The distillery today is regarded in Japan as a protected site but this doesn’t stop it having large production and modern facilities like a visitor centre, restaurant and biogas electric generator which captures methane from the waste water in the distillation process through anaerobic digestion.

The Whisky

The No age statement whisky was released in 2016 which is when age statements were dropped from the range almost certainly because of stock issues. The whisky is seen as the embodiment of the house style with a mix of lightly peated malt whiskies from the distillery (labelled Japanese this time) of various ages and a few different types of wood.

Like the Miyagikyo release from the sister distillery this whisky is around £75 in the UK and bottled at 45% ABV.

Tasting Notes

Producer’s Tasting Note:
Nose: Full-bodied, smooth. A mellow peat softly coats the aromatic palette at first, growing more powerful with time, as smoke, soot and salty notes transcend the initial nose. The aromas then evolve towards candied citrus fruit (lemon, orange), black liquorice and spices (nutmeg, ginger), and opens up with roots and dried twig aromas. Heady and floral (carnation, iris), it grows increasingly complex.
Palate: Firm, powerful. A well-balanced attack gives equal footing to aromas of peat, smoke, spices, fresh fruit (melon, kiwi) and nuts (almond, walnut), which it delivers in spades. The mid-palate starts off with chocolate notes, but the peat soon takes the lead once again.
Finish: Long, silky. Extremely mature, it overflows with ripe fruit (pear, Mirabelle plum, apple). The peat starts taking on an herbaceous and malty character, while the salty flavours gives the finish plenty of depth and coastal freshness. The final nose offers menthol, spicy (coriander, dill) and earthy (leather, chestnuts) notes.

Our Tasting Notes
Nose – light peat and woody smoke with liquorice and oak spice

Palate – The nose follows the palate and mingles tinned fruits and earthy forest floor notes

Finish – long finish and nice weight. the symmetry of nose to palates leads into the finish

Conclusions

To be honest the short notes for me show I just can’t get into this one. it’s ok that is about all I can say about it and for £75 that isn’t really going to cut it anymore.