The last whisky review I posted before our trip to Japan (and our subsequent summer travels) began was of the 2013 release of the Hakushu Sherry Cask. The first review I have for you now that our travels are over is of another Japanese whisky, the Nikka Pure Malt White. I acquired this bottle many years ago, along with the Pure Malt Black (which I reviewed almost exactly a year ago). A friend picked both up from the duty free at Reykjavik airport in 2012 for all of $22 each. Rub your eyes and read that sentence again. Where the Black was dubbed “Smoky & Mellow” this one bears the words “Salty & Peaty” on the rear label. Where the Black contained a high dose of peated whisky from Nikkas’s Yoichi distillery, the White was described by them as “made mainly with Islay, Scotland type malt”. Now as to whether “Islay, Scotland type malt” means it actually contains Islay whisky or whether it contains whisky made in that style—perhaps from peated barley from Islay—I have no idea. Anyway, I’m looking forward to finally tasting it. Continue reading
Category Archives: Nikka
Nikka Pure Malt Black, “Smoky & Mellow”
Let’s keep the mini-streak of bottles I purchased around the turn of the previous decade going. My spreadsheet tells me that I acquired this bottle of Nikka’s Pure Malt Black, courtesy a friend transiting through the Reykjavik airport in August 2012. My spreadsheet also tells me that the 500 ml bottle cost all of $22 in 2012. This makes me want to both laugh and cry. There is very little good Japanese whisky on the market in the US anymore and none of it is as cheap as this was in 2012 (and it was cheap then too). That much is clear. What is less clear is the makeup of the whisky. Nikka put out a number of these Pure Malt releases (do they still?). In addition to the Black, there was also a White and a Red (apologies to any other colours I may be forgetting). No one was ever sure how they were made. The official line was that these were blends of malts from Nikka’s Miyagikyo and Yoichi distilleries but unofficially they were said to also contain whisky from, at least, the group’s Ben Nevis distillery in Scotland. Anyway, I don’t know why I never opened this bottle (or the bottle of the Pure Malt White my friend got me alongside it) for so many years but it’s now open, and here now are my notes. Continue reading
Nikka 12, “Woody & Mellow”
I started last week with a review of a Japanese whisky (this Hanyu); I may as well end this week with a review of another. This one is not a single malt. It was one of a series of limited edition whiskies released by Nikka, all of which were 12 years old and all of which were marked by two key characteristics. I’m a bit fuzzy on whether the idea was/is that these are the whiskies that in some combination go into Nikka’s blends or that they were to be purchased as components for home blending—I do believe they were only available at the Yoichi distillery (please correct me if I’m wrong). I’ve previously reviewed the Yoichi “Peaty & Salty” from the same series, and I quite liked that one. This, however, is a grain whisky, and one distilled in a coffey or two-column continuous still that is commonly used in grain whisky distillation. My track record with grain whisky is not very good but, as always, I live in hope. Maybe this will be the best grain whisky I’ve had in a while. Let’s see.
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Nikka Taketsuru 21, Pure Malt
The Taketsuru “pure malts” from Nikka are, I believe, blended/vatted malt whiskies (i.e. no grain whisky in the mix) from some combination of Nikka’s malt distilleries. I’m not sure what the profiles or proportions of the components (presumably from Yoichi and Miyagikyou) are in any of them. This 21 yo is a much lauded whisky and recently arrived in the US (albeit at a rather steep price) and so I’m quite excited to be trying it.
Nikka Taketsuru 21 “Pure Malt” (43%; from a sample received in a swap)
Nose: Clear sherry influence–dark raisins, plum liqueur, maple syrup. Polished wood and oak spice too. With time a touch of soy sauce and a mild leatheriness. Gets more citrussy with time (dried tangerine peel). Very elegant. With a few drops of water the citrus expands, there’s more brine too, and also a faint, leathery lick of dry smoke. Continue reading
Nikka From The Barrel
Nikka is one of two Japanese whisky producers currently in the US market (Suntory is the other). So far they’ve released the excellent Yoichi 15 and the Taketsuru 12 (a vatted malt which I do not know) and there’s word that one of their grain whiskies is on the way as well. Those who’ve had access to Japanese whisky from other markets are hoping that they will eventually add this blend to their portfolio here as well. Packaged at cask strength (or at high strength anyway) in a distinctive square bottle this whisky is sheer easy drinking pleasure, and some of the pleasure comes from the fact that it is a very good value (I paid $34 for the 500 ml bottle in the UK; I guess that would be $51 for a 750 ml bottle–so, maybe not quite as good a value once you do the arithmetic).
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