nikka whisky distillery yoichi

占地广阔令人身心舒畅，游览无负担自由自在，介绍影片还有中文，可购买独家原酒或者是付费品饮特别酒款，收获真是多啊!

- free- 5min walk fr train station- English speaking (& English map) staff at the front gate (not the car park side)- nice walk in the complex- both free (limited to 3 shots per person, & sorry not to those under 20yo or drivers) & pay-for sampling

Japanese make good Whisky, so let's try Nikka ! Maybe a little far from Sapporo but it worths it to go there. At this time snow everywhere is beautiful! You have free tasting with generous glasses and you can buy it after. Indications in English there and it is very popular for Japanese people.

Just 3min away from Yoichi stn, this is a lovely theme park of whisky. Guided tour takes approx 40min followed by complementary tastings of several kinds of single malt. You may also try lots of different grade of shots at a bar with a reasonable charge. Souvenir shop was filled with tourists who was in serious mode in choosing bottles. You may have lunch here, attached restaurant is worth a try.

The distillery is easy to get to from Otaru or Sapporo. We combined it with a trip to the Otaru Snow Light Path festival in Feb. While the train was packed full heading toward Otaru, only a handful of people got off at Yoichi Station for the distillery. It was nice to be away from the crowds and enjoy the beautiful snow covered distillery. We thought the self-guided tour was interesting, even without seeing the actual whiskey being made. The whiskey tasting portion really surprised us; we were expecting small sample cups. We were pleasantly surprised by the generous portions. Not a whiskey drinker myself, I still found myself enjoying the experience of sampling different kinds and liking a few (both the free samples above the restaurant and the paid ones in the museum).We ate lunch at the restaurant and found the food to be delicious and inexpensive. The service was lovely, although the interior of the restaurant is somewhat dated. We bought several bottles for ourselves and to give as gifts and had them packed and shipped to our residence in Japan with no problem. The cost to pack and ship four bottles was only $15 and everything arrived a few days later in perfect condition. They do not ship internationally, only in Japan.Overall, a nice off-the-beaten path visit that we really enjoyed!

The first bad review and I can not understand what everybody was so happy about. Me and my friend has been to quite a few destillerys in scotland and we read som reviews here and where really disipointed at Nikka. Ok the setting is nice and you can take i few nice photos, when we where there we could taste to diffrent whiskys (10 single malt and 17 blended) and thats also ok.But apart from that it was nothing o few videodisplays ( i can watch that on youtube). You where not allowed to se anything, there where just a lot of sign that said " do not enter". In Scotland you usually go with a guide that shows the whole production chain and sees every step and they actually is making whisky during the tour so you can get the smell and the heat from the burners. Nikka was more of a museum, no production at the time we where there. It migth be the wrong time of the year for that. So if youre out driving and passing by its worth making a stop. We took the train and the scenary on the train jorney was fine as well. Its easy access from the trainstation so go, but dont have to high excaptions.

My family really enjoyed learning about one of the two most influential figures in the history of Japanese whisky, Masataka Taketsuru. His trailblazing journey to Scotland in the early 20th century to learn more about whisky was inspiring to read about as we walked thru the various buildings on the well-cared for property. Stepping into the 1920's home he shared with his Irish wife, Rita, one could imagine how they lived day-to-day in those times. My brother especially liked the free samples of the Nikka aged whisky's as we ended up buying some unique ones that were not sold outside of the Distillery. I liked the little grocery store outside the JR station to the left that had some good bento boxes for the ride back to Otaru.

This was a great place to visit. We came up on Christmas Eve from Sapporo. Not all the buildings were open but the English brochure was very good and I was able to explain the whole process of brewing and distilling to my fiancée. The story of the company is amazing - a Japanese man from a sake brewing family becoming obsessed with Scottish whisky and moving to Scotland in 1914(?) to learn the process, and marrying a Scottish lass who followed him back to Japan and endured WWII in Japan. A small room is dedicated to their touching story. The whisky tastings are done in two places - the rare single malts from the 80s are in the pay section in the museum. There is a free section above the restaurant. I actually only like whisky that is heavily peated - and this whisky is not - but the 17 year blend was very good, and obviously Yoichi has won a lot of awards. If you are in Sapporo spend a half day going up to Yoichi! There is a good canteen style restaurant above the fish market (entrance on the left as you face the market) just next to the train station for lunch.

The distillery is set amid really beautiful scenery, including gorgeous trees throughout the grounds. Depending on which end of the distillery you arrive at, you either start at the tasting room or the visitors' lounge. We began at the tasting room, yums! Three types of whisky are available for sampling - apple flavour, 10-year single malt and 17 year blended whisky. All the glasses are laid out on the counter and they rely on visitors' integrity to help themselves to only one serving per flavour. Oolong tea and apple juice are also available as palette cleansers and there is no limit to how many glasses of these you take. Appointed drivers are invited to wear a yellow sticker and drink nothing alcoholic. Next to the tasting room is the museum with a 'Whisky club' offering more paid varieties of whisky to tickle your palette. The historical gallery was a meaningful visit. A lot of the displays are in Japanese but the part introducing the founders had English text. It was really heartwarming to read about the Japanese founder met and fell in love with his Scottish wife, how she relocated to Japan to support her husband in his vision, and how they were deeply in love in life and buried next to each other in death. There are different buildings for visitors to witness the different stages of whisky preparation. In most of these buildings there are English explanatory videos available, which is great! To help you capture the perfect keepsake of your visit, there are several photo backdrops set up near the visitors' lounge, one even has a tripod already set up so the selfie sticks can stay out of sight. A great buy at the shop are the sample sized bottles. You get to bring back many different flavours for yourself or as gifts for friends. To top off the visit, there's a homey diner near the parking lot for a very tasty meal. We had the lamb platter that is served with two types of soup - both whisky based - bubbling hot with live coals underneath, and the lamb bbq. Both hit the spot!

We had taken a day trip to Otaru and decided to hop over to Yoichi to see the Nikka Whisky Distillery which was only a few stops away on the local JR Train (360yen). Do note that the trains run at intervals of either 1 hr or 2 hrs apart from Otaru so you might want to time your sightseeing / whisky tasting around the train timings. Otherwise, it'll be a looooonnnggg wait until the next train.I am very impressed with the distillery, although the person at the information centre spoke no English, they ensured that we received English brochures to get by. There are actually 2 whisky tasting locations. The paid one and the free one. The paid tasting actually had the better selections. Unfortunately, on the day that we were there, the 25 year award winning ones were sold out.The free tasting stations had the 10, 12 and 17 year whiskies, some apple wine and non-alcoholic drinks.That aside, the compound is very scenic and I did learn a lot about the history of whisky in Japan. I did like the interactive displays where we could smell the different whisky's too.

A great day of enjoying the historic buildings, learning from the displays and production spaces, and many spots to take some great photos. There are free tastings - but there's also a very dapper space to enjoy a wider range of their offerings for a fee - English menu available. Chose not to eat at the restaurant, really didn't fit the space/experience. English only brochures to support your self-guided walking tour with some english displays. Lots on offer at the gift shop. Enjoy this historic, operating, space that's refreshingly like a museum for adults that's all about Whisky.

Tasting session was very good. It was nice to have a dedicate driver. You can taste improved/excellent quality of Japanese single malt.

We took a long train ride to visit this distillery but it was worth it (it is a very short walk from the train station). You can really feel the Scottish influence in the buildings (you will read why!). There is a museum, tasting room and gift store. We had a great visit and the only regret was that we hadn't allowed quite enough time for ourselves - allow a couple of hours.

If you love whisky, surely you should come Nikka Whisky Distillery. Located a 5-min walk nearby the JR station, you don't need to worry about tasting too much wine. Besides understanding the process of distilling whisky and plenty of information about whisky, you can also enjoy tasting at least three kinds of whisky there. With beautiful scenery at the restaurant, you can enjoy a relaxing afternoon with the world-winning whisky.

What a wonderful park and museum！Do you know the name Mr.TAKETSURU Masataka? He is the father of Whiskey in Japan. He learned the producing process of Scotch whisky. Here,we could study about whiskey and Mr.TAKETSURU and taste whiskey, wine and juice. Never did I dream,the name Nikka (a corporate name) means" Ni"hon "Ka"juu company, Ni and Ka!!!!!.Many people enjoy taking a walk and viewing the trees and flowers in the park. There are many spots for photos. Also you can visit many studios and see the real machine and barrel,cask. Let's study the operations involved in a process by videos. We are very surprised to a craftsman who makes or repairs wooden barrels or tubs.And you can enjoy sniffing of the fragrance of whiskey with comparing 5years,10years,15years,20years.There is a restaurant you can enjoy local food.Of course you can buy a souvenir. We love here.Close to the JR Yoichi station. From Otaru to Yoichi,just 30min by train. But there are not many trains. Possibly a Express bus may be convenient.When we went to the sherry factory in Spain, we heard a story about the mice live there. The factory watches over and enwraps them with its immeasurably great mercy and gratitude. It prepares a glass of sherry,a ladder and a snack,like the cheese or dried fruits for them. BUt here,in this factory,it keeps cats for mice measures! So many countries, so many customs.