Blended Malt named in honor of Nikka founder Masataka Taketsuru. Acknowledged as the founding father of Japanese whisky, Taketsuru was the first Japanese to travel to Scotland to discover whisky-making, and to bring this know-how back to Japan.Blended Malt named in honor of Nikka founder Masataka Taketsuru. Acknowledged as the founding father of Japanese whisky, Taketsuru was the first Japanese to travel to Scotland to discover whisky-making, and to bring this know-how back to Japan.