ChainWhip Posted September 23, 2013 Share Posted September 23, 2013 Nikka is apparently making a whisky from "mainly corn and a small amount of malted barley" - From NonJatta: On June 11th, Nikka is officially launching its regular – i.e. not a single cask (of which there have been many) – no-age-statement Coffey Grain in Japan. It was first launched in September 2012 at Whisky Live Paris, and has since been available as part of the regular Nikka range in Europe. Now, it will also be part of the standard range in the home market. For some reason, the only difference between the European and the Japanese version is the size (500ml and 700ml, respectively). Masataka Taketsuru imported a Coffey still from Scotland in 1963. He wanted a grain spirit that was – obviously – high in alcohol content but he also wanted to retain the character of the grain, its flavours and aromas. He wasn’t very keen on the newer – more widely used – types of continuous stills, precisely because he felt they stripped the spirit of too much flavour, so he went back to the Coffey still, which is notoriously difficult to operate but produces a more characterful spirit. Nikka originally produced its grain whisky at their Nishinomiya plant, but moved their grain whisky production – and the Coffey stills – to Miyagikyo distillery in 1999. Nikka’s grain whisky is distilled in the traditional way, using mainly corn and a small amount of malted barley. Nikka’s Coffey Grain has received a warm welcome in Europe, especially from creative bartenders who enjoy using it to give classic cocktails a different slant. It’ll be interesting to see how the home front reacts to this new addition to the Nikka range. It’s bottled at 45% abv and will be priced at a little under (or over, depending on your retailer) 5,000 yen for a 700ml bottle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
upStomp Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 Bump, as I just got a sample of this at my favorite Japanese place. I didn't have enough to give full tasting notes, but I can say that I loved it. I find most Japanese Whiskies to be too Scotchy for my tastes, and I had no idea what this would be going in. But right from opening of the bottle, I knew this had more in common with Bourbon than Scotch. Both nose and taste are very sweet. The only way I can describe it based on the short tasting is "Distilled Eggnog" - and I mean that in the best way possible. A cursory Google search shows that it's going for $60-$65/750 here right now. I'll be keeping my eyes open for a bottle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanstaafl2 Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 (edited) Almost picked up a bottle of this last week. Just ran out of luggage space. May still do so as it seems like a natural to compare to Greenore Irish grain (basically all corn) whiskey. Edited January 9, 2014 by tanstaafl2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luna56 Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 I hope to try this sometime. While I've always loved Japanese beers, I've found their whiskies to be technically perfect but absent any true character. Quite drinkable, though!!Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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