This news just came in; Nikka Whisky will in August halt sales of its beloved brand Yoichi. It´s not the lack of demand causing this but rather too much demand. Ever since the TV show Massan, about the life of Masataka Taketsuru, the founder of Nikka and his wife Rita debuted on NHK demand for whisky in Japan has sky rocketed. Nikka is simply unable to supply this demand, it has therefore decided to shift its focus on a new brand of whisky named “Taketsuru.”

“Taketsuru” whisky will be a blended whisky while Yoichi is single malts, the change is therefore slightly bigger than just changing the name of the label. The reason is of course that there simply isn’t enough single malt whisky available.

Yoichi whisky is said to have the aroma and the taste that Taketsuru wanted whisky to have. After the debut of Massan demand for this whisky increased 2-7 fold, forcing Nikka to take it off the market and blend its products in order to have more whisky available for thirsty Massan viewers.

The response among whisky lovers in Japan has been mixed, some Twitter users expressed a shock at hearing the story.

It remains to be seen what happens after the Massan boom passes, in the meanwhile rest assured that we at Dekanta have a few bottles at Yoichi stocked.