Yoichi Distillery/Nikka Whisky

There was no biking today due to the driving distances to a tour of a whisky distillery and to our next destination. I'm not sure who decided on those priorities, but that was the schedule. The whisky tour was well organized, though entirely in Japanese, with the exception of brief informational cards in English held by the very cute tour guide whose voice was gentle and melodic. The man who established the distillery moved from Japan to Scotland where he studied how they made whisky and brought his knowledge and Scottish wife to Hokkaido, where the climate is similar to Scotland's. Even the stained glass logo pays homage to the Scottish heritage. To this day, their whisky continues to be distilled with coal fires. The photo of B&W pictures is from the museum and shows different ways to enjoy whiskey lol. I'm not a fan of whiskey, but I have to say our samplers were delicious.

The random photo of pets was posted above the hand air dryer in a bathroom of one of our stops. I thought it was funny--and thoughtful-- for someone to place it there to provide entertainment while we waited for our hands to eventually get dry enough to wipe on our pants.Read more