Miyagikyo

Masataka Taketsuru searched three years for a site whose air and water felt right, and reportedly decided at Miyagikyo after tasting the Nikkawa river — the company name's happy coincidence. Where Yoichi is coal-fired muscle, Miyagikyo is steam-heated grace: sherried, floral, orchard-soft malt from big stills, plus Coffey grain whisky from antique column stills that became a category of its own. The yin to Yoichi's yang in every great Nikka blend.