IT IS EASY to find oneself hypnotised as you wander through Nikka’s Yoichi Distillery. Built in 1934 with redtinted, pagoda-style rooftops on stone buildings and rows of carefully manicured greenery, it is a place that can be counted on for nostalgia, delicious whisky and a relaxing stroll through ‘Scotland’.
To put it simply, this is Masataka Taketsuru’s baby. Regarded as the ‘father of Japanese whisky’, the late Nikka founder sailed to Scotland in 1918 to earn a degree in chemistry and engineering, only to fall in love with whisky, its craft and a girl named Rita Cowan. He would apprentice at distilleries such as Longmorn and Hazelburn, and become the only Japanese to know the trade at the time. She would become his wife and play a pivotal role in supporting his vision and establishing the company. In fact, many consider Cowan to be
