Nikka Whisky’s Groundbreaking “From the Barrel” Bottling Celebrates Its 40th

It’s hard to remember just how different the world of whisky was in 1985 compared to today. On a global scale, whisky was in the midst of a decades-long slump, eclipsed by the vodka boom that had started in the ’60s. In Japan, younger drinkers were gravitating away from whisky toward shochu and, ironically, imported whiskies from Scotland and America that weren’t being consumed in the countries that made them. It was into this challenging climate that Nikka—one of the premier…