12
Expressions
12
With Tasting Notes
100%
Completeness
About
Founded by Masataka Taketsuru, the father of Japanese whisky, who chose this Hokkaido coastal town for its similarity to Scottish distilling conditions. One of the last distilleries in the world to use direct coal-fired pot stills, giving a robust, peaty, maritime character.
Production Details
Owner
Nikka Whisky
Parent Company
Asahi Group Holdings
Status
Active
Founded
1934
Still Type
Pot
Stills
6
Capacity
2.0M LPA
Water Source
Underground springs from the Shakotan mountain range
Core Range1
Nikka Yoichi Single MaltCore
NAS45% ABV20 PPM$70-90
ex-bourbon, sherry
4/4 Tasting
View tasting notes
Sight
Deep burnished amber tending toward old mahogany. Legs cling to the glass with deliberate slowness, wide and oily — a signal of the direct-fired richness.
Smell
Furniture Maker arrives first — fresh-cut oak and beeswax. Then the Smoke House quietly opens: not a shout of peat but a low, confident drift of wood smoke and a whisper of old rope. Stone fruit — plum skins and bruised apricot. Sweet Shop sends dark chocolate, 72% cocoa. A coastal mineral note surfaces from the Walk to the Lighthouse, salt air carried inland. Beneath everything the Bakery offers warm brioche.
Sip
The direct-fired pot still announces itself: weight and oily viscosity that steam-heated distillate rarely achieves. Smoke House peat integrated like embers rather than bonfire. Sweet Shop dark chocolate deepens into mocha. Fresh plum, nectarine from the Farmers Market. Black pepper warming without heat. Round, full mouthfeel with marine chewiness.
Savor
Long, with genuine character. Smoke House peat dries slowly into ash and embers. Dark chocolate lingers as cocoa powder. Walk to the Lighthouse mineral — chalk and cool stone — emerges cleanly. Clarity within complexity. Not Islay's medicinal iodine; more the clean stone and smoked fish of a remote Scottish harbour.
View flavor map
Smoke House: Peat (wood smoke, old rope, embers, ash), Walk to Lighthouse: Sea (salt air, smoked fish), Stone (chalk, flint), Sweet Shop: Chocolate (dark chocolate, cocoa powder), Farmers Market: Stone Fruit (plum, apricot, nectarine), Furniture Maker: Wood (oak, sandalwood), Oils/Wax (beeswax), Bakery: Savoury (brioche, butter), Tea/Coffee Shop: Coffee (espresso, mocha)
Limited / Special Releases11
Nikka Discovery Yoichi Aromatic Yeast (2022)
NAS48% ABV202220 PPM$275
ex-bourbon, refill hogshead
4/4 Tasting
View tasting notes
Sight
Warm gold with amber highlights — slightly richer than the Non-Peated Discovery, the aromatic yeast contributing ester complexity visible in the colour's warmth.
Smell
Focus on aromatic yeast influence — floral, fruity profile layered over Yoichi's characteristic peat. Florist leads: jasmine, orange blossom, honeysuckle — ester-driven florals from the yeast. Tropical fruit notes emerge: passion fruit, guava, overripe banana — fermentation esters amplified. Smoke House peat sits beneath the floral canopy. Sweet Shop honey and vanilla. A key data point: this expression proves that FERMENTATION CHOICES create as much flavour as cask choices.
Sip
The aromatic yeast creates a palate unlike any other Yoichi: floral and tropical esters ride the direct-fired weight. Passion fruit, guava, ripe peach — fermentation-driven fruit rather than cask-driven fruit. Honey sweetness is amplified. Smoke House peat provides counterpoint. Maritime salt thread. The mouthfeel carries a creamy, almost lactic quality from the yeast. Body medium-full.
Savor
Medium-long. Floral esters fade slowly — jasmine, honeysuckle. Tropical fruit lingers. Peat emerges in the finish as gentle wood smoke. Maritime mineral closes. The finish demonstrates that yeast selection writes itself into every stage of the whisky's life — it is not just a fermentation ingredient but a permanent flavour signature.
View flavor map
Florist: Fresh Flowers (jasmine, orange blossom, honeysuckle), Farmers Market: Tropical (passion fruit, guava, banana), Stone Fruit (ripe peach), Sweet Shop: Syrup (honey), Butterscotch (vanilla), Smoke House: Peat (wood smoke), Walk to Lighthouse: Sea (salt air, maritime), Stone (mineral, chalk)
Nikka Discovery Yoichi Non-Peated (2021)
NAS47% ABV2021$350
ex-bourbon, refill hogshead
4/4 Tasting
View tasting notes
Sight
Pale straw gold — the lightest Yoichi ever released, absent the colour contribution of peated malt. Crystal clear.
Smell
Yoichi distilled from unpeated malt — the distillery's DNA without its signature peat. Direct-fired pot still richness fully present: the oily, weighty character that defines Yoichi is NOT from peat, revealed here as purely a function of the coal-fired stills. Stone fruit intensified without smoke mask: fresh peach, apricot, plum blossom. Sweet Shop vanilla and toffee from bourbon cask. Bakery malt and warm grain. Walk to Lighthouse maritime salt still present — terroir, not peat.
Sip
Revelatory: Yoichi's direct-fired weight and oily texture exist completely independent of peat. The spirit's backbone is distillation method, not raw material. Peach and apricot dominate mid-palate. Vanilla and butterscotch from bourbon wood. Malty, grainy, almost biscuity. Maritime salt thread — Hokkaido climate writing itself into the spirit. Remarkably full-bodied for an unpeated whisky.
Savor
Medium-long. Peach and vanilla fade together. Maritime mineral chalk emerges clean. Malty grain dries the palate. The most important single data point in the Yoichi range: it proves the direct-fired pot still character IS the house style — peat is an ingredient, not the identity.
View flavor map
Farmers Market: Stone Fruit (peach, apricot, plum blossom), Sweet Shop: Butterscotch (vanilla, toffee, butterscotch), Bakery: Sweet (malt, warm grain, biscuit), Walk to Lighthouse: Sea (salt air, maritime), Stone (chalk, mineral), Furniture Maker: Wood (oak, vanilla pod)
Nikka Yoichi Single Malt 10 Year Old (2022 Re-Release)
1045% ABV202220 PPM$175-250
ex-bourbon, refill hogshead
4/4 Tasting
View tasting notes
Sight
Bright gold with an amber core — the colour of autumn afternoon light through a Hokkaido forest canopy. Clear and luminous.
Smell
The youngest age-stated Yoichi, most forthright. Wood smoke rather than deep peat, campfire more than century-old bog. Stone fruit is vivid: peach skins, unripened plum, cherry blossom. Milk chocolate rather than dark. Eucalyptus and green menthol thread, like cold air through pine trees at altitude.
Sip
Direct-fired character fully present even at ten years: textural weight, oiliness that defines Yoichi's house style. Malt and grain anchor mid-palate — oats, roasted barley. Peat smokes through cleanly, slightly green. Fresh peach, tart cherry brighter than the NAS. White pepper adds youthful liveliness. Trace of coastal salt.
Savor
Medium length. Smoke leads the exit — clean, slightly maritime — before grain takes over with drying, chalky mineral finish. Green apple surfaces briefly. Honest and clean, a declaration of what Yoichi is built from rather than what age has done to it.
View flavor map
Smoke House: Peat (wood smoke, campfire, embers), Farmers Market: Stone Fruit (peach, cherry, plum), Florist: Blossom (cherry blossom), Natural Foods: Grains (roasted barley, oats), Spices (white pepper), Sweet Shop: Chocolate (milk chocolate), Walk to Lighthouse: Stone (chalk), Garden Path: Herbs (eucalyptus, menthol)
Nikka Yoichi Single Malt 15 Year Old
1545% ABV20 PPM$1000-1350
ex-bourbon, sherry
4/4 Tasting
View tasting notes
Sight
Deep amber with unmistakable mahogany tones at the rim — richness speaking to fifteen cold Hokkaido winters. Legs slow, broad, and slightly oily.
Smell
Yoichi house style at equilibrium. Furniture Maker takes ownership: polished oak, leather, furniture wax. Smoke House peat deeply integrated — structural, like oak beams in an old building. Dark plum, Morello cherry, kirsch liqueur. Sweet Shop dark chocolate truffle dusted with cocoa powder. Library announces clearly — old parchment, leather-bound volumes, oak-panelled room.
Sip
Authoritative and deep. Direct-fired richness at maximum integration. Sweet Shop and Smoke House perform their greatest duet — dark chocolate and wood smoke in near-perfect proportion. Morello cherry, fig, dark plum in waves. Walnut, toasted hazelnut. Walk to Lighthouse mineral salinity constant undercurrent. Full, round, slightly coating body.
Savor
Long and complex with distinct phases. Phase one: dark chocolate and embers fade together. Phase two: cedar and oak tannin dry the palate gently. Phase three: Walk to Lighthouse mineral chalk emerges cool and clean. Phase four: Tobacco Shop closes — cigar box, cedar shavings. A finish designed for contemplation.
View flavor map
Smoke House: Peat (wood smoke, embers, old rope, tar), Sweet Shop: Chocolate (dark chocolate, cocoa powder), Furniture Maker: Wood (oak, cedar, sandalwood), Leather (upholstery, chamois), Farmers Market: Stone Fruit (dark plum, Morello cherry), Dried (fig, prunes), Bar: Wine (kirsch, oloroso), Library (old bindings, parchment), Tobacco Shop (cigar box, humidor), Walk to Lighthouse: Stone (chalk, limestone, flint)
Nikka Yoichi Single Malt 20 Year Old
2052% ABV20 PPM$3300-6200
ex-bourbon, sherry, refill hogshead
4/4 Tasting
View tasting notes
Sight
Darkest of the age-stated Yoichis — deep garnet-tinged mahogany, the colour of old port wine. At cask strength, legs fall slowly, broad and thick.
Smell
Twenty Hokkaido winters have transformed the spirit. Smoke House peat transmuted into ghost of fire in old timber. Library arrives prominently: old bindings, aged parchment, ink, oak-panelled room. Leather deepened to chamois, vintage saddle. Fruit ancient and preserved: Christmas cake, mincemeat, Morello cherry in brandy. Bar offers dried PX sherry and Madeira. Tobacco Shop permanent resident: cigar box, cedar, pipe tobacco warmth.
Sip
Cask strength demands water. Direct-fired richness now archaeological bedrock. Dark chocolate become 85% cocoa — dry, bitter, refined. Peat as smoked wood — charred inner cask wall. Christmas cake, candied orange peel, dark plum regal and concentrated. Long ristretto note. Walnut bitters. Walk to Lighthouse salinity mineral and precise — wet flint, sea clay.
Savor
Extraordinary length — fifteen to twenty minutes of layered collapse. Library and Tobacco Shop hold longest: parchment, cigar cedar, pipe tobacco memory. Walk to Lighthouse closes with pure chalk mineral, cool and silent as a winter headland. An absence that feels earned.
View flavor map
Smoke House: Peat (tar, old rope, charred cask), Library (old bindings, parchment, ink, cigar box), Tobacco Shop (cigar box, humidor, pipe tobacco, cedar), Furniture Maker: Wood (oak, cedar, walnut, mahogany), Leather (chamois, suede), Bar: Wine (PX, Madeira, oloroso, port), Farmers Market: Dried (Christmas cake, mincemeat, Morello cherry, candied orange), Sweet Shop: Chocolate (dark 85%, cocoa powder), Tea/Coffee: Coffee (ristretto, espresso), Walk to Lighthouse: Stone (chalk, flint, wet cement)
Yoichi Apple Brandy Wood Finish
NAS47% ABV202020 PPM$635-915
ex-bourbon, apple brandy cask finish
4/4 Tasting
View tasting notes
Sight
Golden amber with brilliant clarity. Almost orchard-green tinge in daylight, visual suggestion of apple cask contribution.
Smell
Most unexpected Yoichi expression. Farmers Market leads with orchard: fresh-cut apple, apple blossom, bright green apple skin. Bakery offers apple turnover, baked apple, tarte tatin. Thread of Calvados-adjacent character. Smoke House peat relocated by fruit cask — now smells like smoked apple wood, a BBQ pit. Walk to Lighthouse salt air arrives last, clean and unexpected behind orchard character.
Sip
Fascinating conversation between distillery character and apple brandy. Cooked apple, apple cider, Calvados note. Bakery tarte tatin and cinnamon apple. Smoke House peat lighter, now carrying apple wood smoke character, almost sweet. Direct-fired weight carries fruit beautifully. Cinnamon and clove. Walk to Lighthouse salt cuts through sweetness.
Savor
Medium-long. Orchard character dominates early — cooked apple, apple skin, Calvados dryness. Smoke fades to apple wood embers. Cinnamon spice dries mid-finish. Walk to Lighthouse closes with chalk and salt air. Continually surprising: just when orchard sweetness takes over, salt and smoke return.
View flavor map
Farmers Market: Orchard (apple, cooked apple, apple cider), Florist: Blossom (apple blossom), Bakery: Sweet (apple turnover, tarte tatin), Bar: Wine (Calvados), Smoke House: Peat (apple wood smoke), Burnt (embers), Natural Foods: Spices (cinnamon, clove, allspice), Walk to Lighthouse: Sea (salt air), Stone (chalk)
Yoichi Moscatel Wood Finish
NAS46% ABV201720 PPM
ex-bourbon, moscatel wine cask finish
4/4 Tasting
View tasting notes
Sight
Glowing old gold with warm amber tones — Moscatel added warmth without full sherry darkness. Honeyed, gemstone quality — pale topaz deepening to amber.
Smell
Most overtly wine-like and floral Yoichi. Florist arrives with jasmine-and-orange-blossom character unlike any other expression — delicate, perfumed. White grape, melon, lychee from vine fruit section. Heather honey, clover honey, orange blossom honey. Light Muscat note. Smoke House peat softened and perfumed by Moscatel, turning into incense smoke. Bakery: marzipan, lemon custard tart.
Sip
Opens in unexpected elegance. Florist floral bridges to white fruit — white grape, fresh melon, lychee. Honey sits in centre — heather, clover, orange blossom. Direct-fired weight operates as structural column beneath floral-fruit character. Smoke House peat arrives mid-palate as incense — aromatic, harmonious with sweet Moscatel. Walk to Lighthouse salinity grounds the sweetness.
Savor
Medium, floral and honeyed. Florist's jasmine and orange blossom hold longest. Heather honey lingers. Smoke House peat briefly at end like incense in an open room. Walk to Lighthouse closes with chalk and mineral. Most approachable, unexpected, gentle Yoichi: a dessert dram that still faintly smells of the sea.
View flavor map
Florist: Fresh Flowers (jasmine, rose, violet), Blossom (orange blossom, elderflower), Farmers Market: Vine Fruit (grape, melon, lychee), Bar: Wine (Sauternes, white wine), Sweet Shop: Syrup (heather honey, clover honey), Bakery: Sweet (marzipan, lemon custard tart), Smoke House: Peat (wood smoke/incense), Walk to Lighthouse: Stone (chalk, limestone), Natural Foods: Spices (cardamom, ginger)
Yoichi Peaty & Salty
NAS55% ABV25 PPM
ex-bourbon, refill hogshead
4/4 Tasting
View tasting notes
Sight
Pale gold with a slight green tint — lighter than standard NAS, reflecting higher proportion of younger spirit chosen for peat character.
Smell
Smoke House opens wide. Yoichi's most declarative peat expression: creosote-edged peat, not Islay's medicinal phenol but earthier, more agricultural. Genuine coastal brine from Walk to Lighthouse — standing on Hokkaido shore in November. Faint plum skin which peat quickly overwhelms. Driftwood fire on a northern beach, seaweed catching the edge of flames.
Sip
Peat arrives first, oily and textured — direct-fire weight carrying the smoke. Walk to Lighthouse sea salt amplifies rather than competes with peat: maritime peat character entirely distinct from Islay or Orkney. Smoked fish and oysters surface mid-palate — kippers, anchovy salt. Light grain sweetness underneath — oatmeal, roasted barley. Savoury mineral dryness.
Savor
Long on smoke and salt. Walk to Lighthouse closes: chalk, wet stone, salt air, sea shells. Smoke House peat lingers as ash and rope. Grain note dries palate cleanly. The expression for those who want Yoichi in its most elemental register.
View flavor map
Smoke House: Peat (creosote, farmyard, rope, driftwood), Meat (smoked oysters, smoked fish, kippers), Burnt (ash, embers, bonfire), Walk to Lighthouse: Sea (salt air, seaweed, anchovy), Stone (chalk, wet cement, shell), Natural Foods: Grains (oatmeal, roasted barley), Farmers Market: Stone Fruit (plum)
Yoichi Rum Wood Finish
NAS46% ABV201720 PPM$190
ex-bourbon, rum cask finish
4/4 Tasting
View tasting notes
Sight
Deep gold shading to old amber — rum cask added warmth without sherry darkness. Honeyed, tropical luminosity.
Smell
Most adventurous geographic journey: Hokkaido maritime peated spirit in rum casks, bridging Japan and Caribbean. Tropical section opens: ripe banana, mango, pineapple. Sweet Shop syrup: molasses, brown sugar, dark rum sweetness. Bakery: banana bread, rum-soaked panettone. Smoke House peat behind the tropical wave: phenolic smokiness meeting sugarcane sweetness. Walk to Lighthouse salt air as cleansing note.
Sip
Direct-fired Yoichi weight perfect vehicle for rum cask — enough backbone to absorb assertive cask. Banana, mango, pineapple ride the Yoichi oil. Molasses and brown sugar ground the sweetness. Smoke House peat mid-palate: extraordinary collision — smoke and tropical fruit simultaneously, somehow coherent. Cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice. Walk to Lighthouse salt on back of tongue.
Savor
Long and evolving. Tropical fruit begins: banana, mango. Molasses and brown sugar hold sweetness. Smoke House gradually overtakes: smoke and ash emerging as tropical fades. Walk to Lighthouse closes with salt and chalk. Two-act finish: tropical richness followed by maritime smoke.
View flavor map
Farmers Market: Tropical (banana, mango, pineapple, coconut), Sweet Shop: Syrup (molasses, treacle, brown sugar), Butterscotch (toffee, caramel), Bakery: Sweet (banana bread, panettone), Bar: Wine (rum), Smoke House: Peat (wood smoke, farmyard, rope), Burnt (embers, ash), Natural Foods: Spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice), Walk to Lighthouse: Sea (salt air), Stone (chalk)
Yoichi Sherry & Sweet
NAS55% ABV15 PPM
oloroso sherry butt, sherry hogshead
4/4 Tasting
View tasting notes
Sight
Dark mahogany with unmistakable ruby glints — deepest colour in standard Yoichi range. Legs fall very slowly, wide and full.
Smell
Bar's wine shelf leads: concentrated, oxidative PX and Oloroso — dark raisins, Medjool dates, Sicilian figs. Sweet Shop generous: dark chocolate, chocolate-covered orange peel, toffee. Smoke House peat present but muted, providing structure beneath rather than expression above. Plum become plum jam, apricot become candied. Furniture Maker leather deepens.
Sip
Sherry influence and direct-fired weight remarkable match — spirit strong enough to carry sherry without being overwhelmed. Dark fruit with authority: raisins, figs, dates. Dark chocolate and butterscotch toffee weave through. Oloroso walnuts in dry sherry. Smoke House peat surfaces briefly mid-palate — reminder this is still Yoichi. Fullest mouthfeel in range — thick, coating, almost chewable.
Savor
Long and sweet, darker than any other Yoichi finish. Bar's dried sherry characters hold longest. Dark chocolate closes with leather. Peat eventually surfaces as faint smoke-and-ash, quiet reminder of what lies beneath sherry glamour. Warm and generous; a cold-night, fireside expression.
View flavor map
Bar: Wine (PX, oloroso, sherry, port), Farmers Market: Dried (raisins, figs, dates, sultanas, candied orange), Stone Fruit (plum jam, candied apricot, Morello cherry), Sweet Shop: Chocolate (dark chocolate), Butterscotch (toffee, butterscotch), Syrup (treacle, molasses), Smoke House: Peat (wood smoke, embers), Furniture Maker: Leather (upholstery, chamois), Wood (oak, walnut), Library (old bindings)
Yoichi Woody & Vanillic
NAS55% ABV15 PPM
ex-bourbon, new oak
4/4 Tasting
View tasting notes
Sight
Bright, clear gold with warm amber heart — lighter than Sherry & Sweet with honeyed luminosity suggesting American oak. Legs form cleanly.
Smell
American oak turns Yoichi in a surprising direction. Furniture Maker opens with new oak, fresh cedar, distinctive coconut shavings of American white oak. Finest vanilla pod — sweet, clean, precise. Bakery contributes vanilla custard, shortbread. Smoke House peat quietest here — background haze. Cereal grain note prominent: clean American-style sweetness of corn and light malt.
Sip
Different Yoichi: lighter, rounder. Furniture Maker's American oak vanilla anchors — vanilla pod, woody sweetness. Bakery: vanilla custard, coconut cream, cream soda. Grain sweetness — corn, light malt, toasted coconut. Smoke House peat surfaces as thinnest thread of wood smoke. Direct-fired weight present but in lighter shades. Cinnamon and light vanilla close.
Savor
Clean, medium length. Furniture Maker oak and vanilla maturation dominate. Cedar and sandalwood dry gently. Bakery vanilla custard holds mid-finish. Faint Smoke House whisper at the very end — ash and distant smoke. Lighter, more immediate; built for session drinking.
View flavor map
Furniture Maker: Wood (oak, cedar, sandalwood, coconut shavings), Oils/Wax (danish oil, polish), Bakery: Sweet (vanilla custard, shortbread, coconut cream), Natural Foods: Grains (corn, malted barley, toasted corn), Spices (cinnamon, vanilla), Sweet Shop: Sugar (brown sugar, toasted marshmallow), Butterscotch (butterscotch, caramel), Smoke House: Peat (wood smoke), Burnt (ash)