Masataka Taketsuru: the godfather of Japanese whisky
There are a great many articles about Masataka Taketsuru, the man who built the foundations for the Japanese whiskies we know and love today. If you’re a fan of the genre and you want to know the intimate details about how the tradition started, you should definitely check out them out:
Like this one at the Nikka website.
But I’m here to tell you the story you won’t find in most of these articles.
Let me start by quickly summarizing what many whisky geeks already know:
Masataka Taketsuru went to Scotland in 1918 to learn how to make Scotch whisky.
He came back in 1920 with a Scottish wife named Rita and in 1923 he went to work for the company that would become Suntory.
There he used his expertise to help build Yamazaki: the first whisky distillery in Japan.
In 1934, Taketsuru left for the northern island of Hokkaido to build his own distillery called Yoichi.
In 1940, he launched Nikka whisky, Japan’s second whisky company.
That’s the story in a nutshell. Taketsuru goes to Scotland, comes back with knowledge, helps create Suntory, then goes on to found Nikka.
The rest is history!
But not so fast. There’s a third whisky company you may not know about also linked to Taketsuru called Mars. They too have been making whisky for decades, and the core lineup consists of simple, easy-drinking expressions of distinction that won’t cost you half a mortgage payment.
Here’s the skinny:
This is Kiichiro Iwai: the guy behind the guy.
Allow me now to add in a few lesser-known details to the aforementioned bullet points:
Mr. Iwai was Taketsuru’s boss and the man who introduced Taketsuru to the higher ups at Shettsu Shuzo, the company that commissioned the trip to Scotland.
Shuzo underwrote Taketsuru’s trip to Scotland because the company wanted to build Japan’s first whisky distillery.
When Taketsuru returned from Scotland, the Shuzo company was going through financial difficulties and decided not to invest any further in Taketsuru’s knowledge.
Taketsuru left Shuzo as a result and went on to found Suntory, but the notes the company had commissioned remained.
Despite Taketsuru’s departure, Iwai was still passionate about making whisky and decades later was recruited as an advisor to a sake company called Hombu. In 1949, Hombu acquired a license to produce whisky and Iwai helped build its first whisky distillery using Taketsuru’s notes as a guide.
Today, the company is called Mars and its entry level blended whisky label is called Iwai, paying homage to the man who originally helped bring whisky to Japan by facilitating the education of Taketsuru.
I’m a big fan of the three basic Iwai expressions because:
They’re inexpensive.
They’re elegant and typical of the mellow Japanese style.
They taste good.
The standard Iwai blended whisky uses single malt from the Mars Shinshu distillery and marries it with soft grain whisky to create a ridiculously smooth palate. For $33, it’s a hot deal.
The Iwai 45 is pretty much just the standard Iwai at a higher proof.
The Iwai Tradition has a higher malt content, a higher dose of Sherry maturation, and a slight bit of peat smoke. Like its counterparts, it’s elegant, seamless, and incredibly soft on the palate. It’s my favorite of the trio, by far.
And here’s the part of the story you really won’t find elsewhere (it was told to me by the team at Mars, so take it for what you will):
Apparently, Taketsuru was engaged to the president of Setto Shuzo’s daughter before leaving to Scotland.
As we know, he returned to Japan a married man—but not to the president’s daughter.
Some say the reason the Shuzo company never built the whisky distillery with Taketsuru was more about the romantic fallout of Taketsuru’s new Scottish wife, than about financials!
-David Driscoll