Prices
Prices and stock come from each retailer's website. Check with the store before you buy.
More from this distillery: All Nikka whiskies and prices
About
What it is
A 12 year old blended malt from Nikka, built from Yoichi and Miyagikyo malts and named after founder Masataka Taketsuru. Long discontinued, part of the first wave of age statements Nikka cut as stock ran short.
Where it comes from
Both component distilleries are Japanese, and the current no age statement Taketsuru Pure Malt is confirmed by Nikka as meeting the Japan Spirits and Liqueurs Makers Association standard. But that standard only arrived in 2021, years after this bottling stopped. No Taketsuru 12 was ever assessed against it, and Nikka has never published a retrospective composition for the old age statements. Reasonable to assume it was Yoichi and Miyagikyo only, since that was always the Taketsuru concept, but assume is the operative word.
How it's made
Taketsuru exists to marry Nikka's two opposite distilleries. Yoichi in Hokkaido uses direct coal-fired pot stills for a heavy, peaty, maritime spirit. Miyagikyo near Sendai runs large steam-heated stills for something light and fruity. The blend was Nikka's attempt at a malt whisky as easy to drink as a blend, without grain whisky to smooth it out. Cask detail for the 12 was never published.
What to expect
Softer and fruitier than the current white label, with more sherry influence and a gentler peat note. Bottles have now sat for a decade or more, so storage matters as much as spec.
How it compares
Against the current Taketsuru Pure Malt, the NAS version reformulated in 2020 leans more heavily on Yoichi and reads fresher and more citrusy. Against the 17 and 21, this was always the entry point and the least sought after, which makes it the sanest of the discontinued Taketsurus to actually open and drink.
