Masataka Taketsuru - The Japanese Legend
Where would we be without Masataka Taketsuru? We certainly wouldn't have Japanese whisky as we know it. As such we have a lot to thank him for.
His 'research trip' from Japan to Scotland and the turn of the 20th century would have been a much greater undertaking that we could ever imagine. The journey alone would have taken longer than a month, and then he had to try and fit into a soctiety that even today is not exactly welcome with open arms...Glasgow on a Friday night anyone! This is a somewhat of a cultural jab at Scotland, but you have to imagine what it would have been like for a Japanese 'tourist/student' in the early 1900s in Scotland.
Eitherway he came back with a new wife and the secret to making Scotch whisky.
The rest, as they say, is history!
If you like this story check out this video :)