Anthology
Nikka Whisky From the Barrel
Blended — Japan
Reviewed
March 25, 2020 (edited March 20, 2021)
Heads-up this review is a few months behind. I drafted it a while back but it wasn’t ready for posting. Finally got through the spell checks, syntax, etc. Here goes…
My first real Japanese dram. Wasn’t sure what to expect but it wasn’t this. If I tried this on a blind taste, I would have guessed a Scottish Speysider – floral, fruity and enveloped by sherry (READ: sherry-forward). Nonetheless, let’s dig in:
CONTEXT: Paris CDG airport with two of my best buds, waiting to board a flight to Madrid (second stop on a three-city short euro-trip). Our first boys trip together LA
--> Paris --> Madrid --> Barcelona --> Paris --> LA. As always, ever since I started my whiskey-collection journey, I always check out the international duty-free. So here I am at Charles De Gaulle airport, on the euro side, and of course had to drop in on the local duty-free. VERY slim pickings at the CDG “domestic side” duty-free but I did see the Nikka from the Barrel (NftB) on the shelf for $34 Euros. Started to think it might be a good idea to pick up a bottle for night caps with my buds during our trip (keep in mind I already own 3 unopened bottles of NftB in my collection) …but like I said, slim pickings. It was either this, or 1-liter bottles of Glenlivet, and Monkey Shoulder. Apologies in advance from my stereotype-laced judgment but any scotch that’s bottled in 1-liter containers is an automatic No-Go for me! (OK, maybe a couple of exceptions.) My logic – if it was that good, they wouldn’t be [essentially] “giving it away”. But I’m happy to stand corrected. Throw out names of really high quality, 1-liter dufry bottles, and I’ll take it all back. I do have my mind set on picking up the 1-liter bottle of Caol Ila Distiller’s Edition next time I swing through Heathrow. But I digress.
I think I got played (or it felt like it) by the salesperson at the duty-free counter. She apparently had to add back the VAT because I was travelling to another EU country, so our flight was considered a domestic flight. So no duty free! Urgh…grrrrggh. I call BS! So final price was in the neighborhood of $42 euros, which I think was over $50 bucks after conversion at the time! For a 500ml no less. Too late to pull back now…I already got my boys’ hopes up. On to the tasting!
So first night cap in Madrid, second night cap in Paris (skipped a night cap in Barcelona) …all worth it
NOSE: Incredible nose…almost bourbon-like! I could nose this indefinitely if time were limitless, and/or I didn’t have other drams to check out. Almost a perfect, albeit, subtle balance of caramel, vanilla and sweet sherry rancio, with a hint of smoke coming in last minute to the party. It’s was as if caramel, vanilla and sherry were heading to an olfactory party and last minute decided to make quick detour to a friend’s and ended up bringing a +1 to the soiree.
PALATE: Strong sherry influence. Not yet well-versed on my sherries but I dare guess it’s Oloroso. Vanilla & caramel continue through on to the front & mid-palate from the nose. Some light smoke makes an appearance late but almost apologetically...like it sneaked in through the back door. Simply put, this is a well-balanced dram. Overall, it drank so much more like a sherried scotch. I felt I was missing the “Japanese essence”, although to be perfectly honest, I’m not exactly sure what that means or what to expect from a Japanese whiskey. I have not sampled a lot of them, so my Japanese taste library is relatively scant. Still, a pretty decent dram indeed.
FINISH: Sherry and caramel continue through a relatively short finish. The smoke disappears almost as soon as it appears as if to remind you that it wasn’t supposed to be there in the first place. Light coating on the tongue lingers but can’t quite figure out what the after taste is. Kinda leaves you wanting more but I can’t quite decide whether it’s in a good or bad way.
FINAL VERDICT: Solid 3.75 - 4 (I could potentially change after I spend more time with this bottle…OR…sample more Japanese whiskies). This one is a bit of an enigma. Noses like a bourbon, drinks a like a Speyside single malt. The die is cast…and the bar has been auspiciously set, my friends. Try, own or pass? I say definitely try! Own…if you can find a bottle at retail.
42.0
EUR
per
Bottle
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@Anthology I’d venture anything between 3.75-4.25, but still early days with the bottle. Perhaps around the 1/3 level, give it a chance to breathe, tell us what’s on its mind 😀
@CKarmios Thanks! Looking forward to your full notes on this. Are you dropping a review on this NftB?
Good review. Recently got a bottle of this on sale and been enjoying the odd nightcap. Definitely not a Japanese profile, and it’s not Scotch or a light bourbon either. Well made but goes off balance at times - result of one too many vattings perhaps? @cascode some weeks ago Nikka disclaimed this one as a Japanese whisky, so you prob hit the proverbial nail with the Ben Nevis connection.
@Soba45 🙏🏽
@PBMichiganWolverine Yup I'd agree!
@WhiskeyLonghorn Wise strategy!
@WhiskeyLonghorn @Soba45 I think the new Japanese whiskeys that are actually made in Japan are brand diluting—-they are a shadow of the original Yamazakis and others.
I’ve held off on buying any Japanese for those reasons. The Toki was ok, but nothing special. Good mixer, which was what it was intended for. I’m biding my time for another 8-10 years until there’s some proper aged Japanese stock coming around at a competitive price. Plenty of other drams in the meantime!
To be honest these days a lot of the affordable Japanese Whiskys are shadows of what they used to be due to short supply of good aged stock..a lot of young Japanese stuff without much personality or stuff that isn't even distilled in Japan but is under a Japanese label cos their labeling stds are so lax predominates. The great ones e.g. 18 and 21 yr Yamazaki, Nikka which really have Japanese essence in spades are stupid pricing. They have been ramping up over the last few years though so increasing supply and plummeting demand due to covid and recession may rebalance things
@deanwalker Well in that case no need to comment. There is the review aspect and the social aspect to the platform. I personally prefer more than bland tasting notes and prefer to understand more about the person behind the review, the back story. It can be as long as it wants as long as it's interesting no different in length to standard web review.
this is far too long. no one cares this much
@cascode That might explain the strong scotch influence...except more west highland than speyside. Nice nugget of info.
Good review. This one does improve with a little air in the bottle. Nikka owns the Ben Nevis distillery in Scotland and exports most of their production to Japan for use in some of their whisky, to provide a more robust structure. I believe it mostly goes int Nikka Black, but it's not impossible that some finds its way into this one - but don't quote me on that, no-one knows for certain.