In Honour of the Hero.
The Miyagikyo (pron. mee-yag-ee-kyo) distillery is the second and larger distillery of the Nikka Whisky Company. It was established in 1969 by the genuine hero of Japanese Whisky Masataka Taketsuru. After a 3-year search Masataka settled in Sendai, in the Miyagi prefecture. He immediately recognised the area as ideal for Whisky production, with its fresh water and suitable humidity. Most of the Whisky Miyagakyo produces goes into Nikka’s popular range of blended Whiskies and only a small percentage is released as single malts, which is a shame.
Taketsuru 12YO Whisky is a pure malt Whisky (formerly vatted malt), which means it is a blend of malt Whiskies from different distilleries, in the case of Taketsuru a blend of the Yoichi and Miyagikyo distilleries. It is named as you might have guessed in the honour of the founder Masataka Taketsuru.