Awards

Taketsuru awarded World’s Best

Taketsuru Pure Malt (NAS) was awarded WWA 2023 “World’s Best Blended Malt”. Nikka Whisky Chief Blender Hiromi Ozaki attended the award ceremony in London and collected the trophy on behalf of the company.

Comments by Hiromi Ozaki

This is the 10th World’s Best Blended Malt award for the Taketsuru brand, and the first for our current Taketsuru NAS. We are so delighted with this great achievement and appreciate the continued enthusiasm by our valued customers who have been enjoying our whisky over many years.

We will celebrate the 90th anniversary next year. This award won by Taketsuru, crowning the founder’s name, means a lot to us. We are so thrilled and motivated to further refine our whisky and provide whisky lovers around the world with satisfying moments. Cheers!

Category awards

In addition to the World’s Best for Taketsuru, Nikka also won 2 category awards.
Nikka Session: International Best Blended Malt
Yoichi single malt 10 years: Japanese Best Single Malt

Taketsuru Pure Malt 25 years old awarded "TROPHY" at ISC 2019.

Nikka Whisky Chief Blender Tadashi Sakuma attended the ISC 2019 awards dinner which was held at Plaisterers' Hall in London on Wednesday July 10th and collected the trophy on behalf of the company.

Comments by Tadashi Sakuma

It is our great honor that Taketsuru Pure Malt 25 years old was awarded "TROPHY" at ISC 2019, as an outstanding expression. This is the fifith ISC trophy for Nikka following the past three in the whisky category and one in the vodka category. This is also another achievement following the World's Best Blended Malt at World's Whisky Awards in this special year, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Miyagikyo Distillery which was built in 1969. I would like to make a toast with our valued customers and supporters around the world.

Taketsuru Pure Malt 25 years old awarded WORLD’S BEST BLENDED MALT at World Whiskies Awards 2019.

Nikka Whisky Chief Blender Tadashi Sakuma attended the WWA presentation dinner and collected the trophy on behalf of the company at The Honourable Artillery Company in London on Thursday March 28th.

Comments by Tadashi Sakuma

We are greatly honored that Taketsuru Pure Malt 25 years old has been awarded the World’s Best Blended Malt for the very first time. It is such a pleasure that this is also the 9th award won by Taketsuru, our signature brand which was named in honor of Masataka Taketsuru, the founder of Nikka and father of Japanese whisky. To keep on providing more excitements to connoisseurs around the world by Nikka brands, we will try our best to make the ideal whiskies more than ever.

Nikka Coffey Vodka awarded “TROPHY” at ISC 2018

Nikka Coffey Vodka was awarded the Vodka Category’s top “TROPHY” at the International Spirits Challenge 2018 as a particularly outstanding product in the Vodka category. The tasting awards ceremony was held at the Gibson Hall in London, England on Thursday July 12th. This was the 23rd holding of the International Spirits Challenge (ISC), which is one of the most respected and influential spirits competitions in the world.
 
Nikka Whisky Chief Blender Tadashi Sakuma attended the ISC 2018 awards dinner and collected the trophy on behalf of the company.
Nikka Coffey Vodka was launched in 2017 and the ISC 2018 was the very first international competition to enter.

Comments by Tadashi Sakuma

It is a great honor that Nikka Coffey Vodka was awarded Vodka Category’s top “TROPHY” at ISC 2018, the fourth for Nikka following past three trophies in the whisky category.
 
We are also extremely pleased that another expression from our “Coffey range” has won this award, following Coffey Malt’s “TROPHY” in 2017. It would be a proof that our Coffey distilled products have been acknowledged by the top professionals in the world for its taste and quality, not only in the whisky category but also in white spirits.
 
We feel so much encouraged and energized to keep on pursuing high quality products and to provide connoisseurs around the world with more excitements.

About Nikka Coffey Vodka

Nikka Whisky produces 4 distinctive expressions distilled in Coffey Stills. The Coffey Still is a very traditional type of a continuous still, which was invented by Mr. Aeneas Coffey in 1830. Nikka Whisky’s founder, Masataka Taketsuru valued the feature of this type of still, which retains the flavors of ingredients and also creates a distinctive texture. Today Nikka owns two sets of Coffey Stills.
 
Nikka Coffey Vodka is a vodka with flavor and texture. The secret behind this extremely smooth mouthfeel and delicate taste is the quality of Coffey distillates and the preciseness in blending.
This vodka with zesty notes, rich sweetness and milky mouthfeel perfectly captures the exquisite fullness brought by the Coffey Still.

Taketsuru Pure Malt 17 years old awarded World’s BEST BLENDED MALT at World Whiskies Awards 2018.

Nikka Whisky Chief Blender Tadashi Sakuma attended the WWA presentation dinner and collected the trophy on behalf of the company in London on Thursday March 22nd.

Comments by Tadashi Sakuma

It is a significant achievement that Taketsuru Pure Malt 17 years old has been awarded the World Best Blended Malt for the 4th time. This is also the 8th award won by Taketsuru, our signature brand which was named after the founder. We feel so much energized and refreshed to keep on progressing and to provide connoisseurs around the world with more excitements.

Nikka Coffey Malt awarded TROPHY at ISC 2017

Nikka Coffey Malt awarded TROPHY for grain whisky at the International Spirits Challenge 2017 tasting awards. Nikka Whisky Chief Blender Tadashi Sakuma attended the ISC awards dinner and collected the trophy on behalf of the company in London on Wednesday July 12th.

Comments by Tadashi Sakuma

It is a great honor that our signature grain whisky Nikka Coffey Malt was awarded a trophy at ISC 2017, the third for Nikka following two past trophies for our blended malt and blend whiskies. This significant achievement will be a great start for the launch of Coffey Gin and Coffey Vodka, and encourages us to pursue further innovation.

Koichi Nishikawa awarded Distillery Manager of the year at World Whisky Awards 2016

Icons of Whisky, which recognize and celebrate the finest companies and individuals in the whisky industry, has awarded Yoichi Distillery Manager Koichi Nishikawa as Distillery Manager of the Year.
 
Koichi Nishikawa - “On behalf of the Yoichi Distillery, we are flattered to be awarded this honorable award. To this day we have succeeded our founder Masataka Taketsuru’s passion to deliver genuine whisky to more people. I would like to express my sincere appreciation to the achievements of our predecessors and promise to continuously make whiskies that would be appreciated by consumers of the world.”
 
Koichi Nishikawa joined Nikka Whisky Distilling Company in 1982 after completing his degree in Agriculture at Kyoto University. He held production and quality-control posts at several sites in and outside of Japan, including Nikka owned Yoichi, Miyagikyo and Ben Nevis distilleries. In January 2015, he was appointed as Distillery Manager of Yoichi Distillery.

Nikka Whisky awarded as Distiller of the Year at ISC 2015 awards

The Nikka Whisky Distilling Co., Ltd. was announced Distiller of the Year at the International Spirits Challenge 2015 awards held at Honorable Artillery Company, London, on Wednesday July 8th 2015. The recognition is presented to only one distiller from around the world and is of extremely high honor.

Nikka Whisky From the Barrel awarded TROPHY at ISC 2015

Nikka Whisky From the Barrel was awarded the trophy for Best International Blend at the International Spirits Challenge 2015 awards. The ISC awards dinner was held at Honorable Artillery Company, London, on Wednesday July 8th 2015. Nikka Whisky From the Barrel was selected as Gold Medal along with other whiskies from around the world and further honored with the ultimate TROPHY award, the highest award that can be presented by the ISC.