![]() The tasting is a big selling point to visit the destillery. Specially if you consider the prices of whisky in a japanese bar. You can sample 21 year old whisky without the need to buy the whole expensive bottle or you can sample a whisky that you will not find in a bar or a store outside Japan. They have a wide amout of Nikka whisky you can chose from. After the tour you can sample 2 whisky free. The destillery provides a guided tour that does not require a reservation in advance. For that reason alone the destillery is a point of interest for everyone who is interested in japanese whisky. Miyagikyo is the second big destillery of Nikka after the main destillery in Yoichi. The destillery: The history of Whisky in Japan startet with Suntory and Nikka. > Visiting the destillery really takes half a day. But the closest train station (Sakunami) is 2,5km away from the destillery. From the bus stop it takes another 10-15 minutes walk. There is only one bus per hour and the bus takes over one hour itself. The bus is starting at JR Sendai station. ![]() Getting there: The destillery can be reached by bus. And even then it is only an average destillery. it is time consuming to get there and it only interesting for whisky buffs. Just remember, it might seem long way to go but just going from Osaka to Kyoto is going to take you longer and to me those cities are right next to each other. During the tour they tell you there's three types of Yoichi that they blend to make the single malt (it's my understanding that they sort the barrels into different flavor categories) and I had a taste of the Peaty and Salty was worth tasting on its own. I'd recommend finding a non-driving way to get there so you can taste a little of everything. Where else can you even find Taketsuru 12, 17, and 21 and when I went the short pour of 21 was only ¥500! There was even a special edition Taketsuru that was ¥7,000 for a very short pour and I was glad I tried it. There's a small bar where you can get short pours of Nikka for very little money. I've heard that the VIP tour gets to see a barrel being charred, but you have to be a VIP in the minds of Nikka Whiskey, not in your own mind. You don't even get to see the Coffey still, though they will point out the building. You have to look at things through windows and a lot of what goes on in a distillery is just looking at pipes and tanks. The humidity in the area is oppressive, and one of the Japanese tourists told me the area was picked in part for the humidity and how it would help create a great whiskey. I did it on a day where it was probably 33☌ and I'd already gone to see Yamadera. It's 40+ minutes on the train from Sendai and then if you're not there during the weekend you have another 30-40 minutes walking to get into the hall. I understand how people are up and down about the factory tour. It was a nice day out and even more so as it was cherry blossom season and the place is quite beautiful at that time. I won’t say more about the factory and tour, others have said it all. Nothing I read online indicated the availability of taxis in the area, however they ARE available once you get there and the lady at the Nikka desk booked a taxi for us, even timing it to arrive at an appropriate time for the end of the tour plus shopping but in plenty of time to get to Sakanumi train station to catch the train back. Once you get the to factory they have a list of all the train departure times from Sakunami (that is presuming you aren’t there on a weekend in which case there is the shuttle bus). Follow that sign down the road and you can’t miss it, although even the walk into the factory is quite long for someone with a minor disability. However there is a sign toward the NIkka factory, I just didn’t see it until I got off the bus. This is all good news because otherwise you look like you are getting off in the middle of nowhere. Once on the bus you can read the screen at the front and keep an eye on station names, the Nikka factory stop does have a name and also an English advice message that this is where you get off for the NIkka factory. The bus trip is long (about an hour) and not that interesting, so you could take something to read. At the time of writing, the buses went at half past the hour (e.g, 11:30, 12:30 etc.). So, if you want to get there with less walking, on a weekday (e.g., no shuttle bus) here is what to doįrom Sendai Station, wait at bus stop number ten and take bus number 840 toward Sakunami Onsen. I use a walking stick so some of the options were not open to me (such as the 2.4 kilometre walk from Sakunami station). I found lots of partial information before we went but nothing as specific as I would have liked. I thought I would drop this line to anyone thinking of going to the Nikki factory near Sendai. ![]()
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