Country: Japan
Brand: Nikka
Type: Blended Whisky
Age: NAS
ABV: 40 %
Date: 25/11/2013
Colour: Full Gold
Nose: Medium-Light but not at all unpleasant with Dried Fruits, Pear, Cherries, Malt, Vanilla, Heather, Toasted Cereals, Coconut, Almonds, Bourbon, light Oak, Butter and Orange-Peel. Mostly Refill Ex-Bourbon Casks probably but also a bit of local Wood. The Alcohol is not fully integrated.
Palate: Light, Fruity and Crisp with Pear, Toasted Grains, light Orange, Lemon Peel, Almonds, Honey, Alcohol, light Spices, Malt, light Licorice and light Oak.
Finish: Short and Clean with Malt, Toasted Cereals, slightly Bitter Oak, light Licorice, Honey, Alcohol and light Spices.
With a bit of water the Nose gets more Malt, Butter, Heather and Honey. But Palate and Finish become too Thin.
Rating: 82
Nose: 21 - Taste: 20.5 - Finish: 20 - Overall: 20.5
The Yoichi Distillery
General Remarks: The Nikka Whisky Distilling Co. Ltd owns two Single Malt Distilleries in Japan (Yoichi and Miyagikyo) as well as Ben Nevis in Scotland.
They also produce a lot of Blended Whisky and the NAS 40% we are tasting today is one of the entrance expressions. It sells at around 50 US Dollars. The best known blends are probably Nikka from the Barrel and Black Nikka, the latter mainly in Japan. Nikka was founded by Masataka Taketsuri. He studied Chemistry at the University of Glasgow between 1918 and 1920 and worked and learnt as apprentice at Distilleries like Longmorn and Hazelburn. Apparently he was very gifted because later on Masataka became a Master-Blender. Nowadays the Nikka Whisky Distilling Company is part of Asahi Breweries.
Drinking Experience Neat: Good
Conclusion: The Nikka tastes better than the average Scottish Blends but is also more expensive. The Nose is understated but not unpleasant. On the Palate and in the Finish there's not too much going on really but it's quite drinkable. I did not detect any off-notes. It would certainly be acceptable as an every day Blend if it was a bit less expensive!
Jan van den Ende November, 2013
