Nikka – Miyagikyo – NAS

Friday saw the fourth gathering of the greatest whisky club in the South West. It was supposed to be at a friends’ house, but due to some building work, it landed in my front room. Which made attendance even easier than normal! Each time, one of the guys host and choose three bottles that they would like to drink on the evening. The membership then vote and one is selected. The winner by a country mile this time was the Miyagikyo Non Age, which is produced by the Nikka Company at their Miyagikyo distillery near Sendai, Japan. I am a huge fan of Japanese whisky and was really excited to try this whisky. I was drinking from a Glencairn glass and surrounded by my whisky club buddies.

Aroma: On the nose this whisky is full of dried fruit and orchard fruit notes, which combine with buttered popcorn and brown sugar.

Flavour: As you would expect from a whisky that smells so strongly fruity and floral, its first flavour is all about the tropical fruit notes. I felt as if I was basking on a warm tropical beach, with the sun warming my face as I sipped from a coconut. There are notes of mango, passion fruit and papaya all present. Oddly though, all these flavour are only ever fleeting, light and on some drams not as present.

This flavour evolves in to a drying, yet darkly sweet flavour, which is wooden in composure and yet still only slight in nature. This wooden coats the sides of the mouth with a silky, sweetness of sugars and dryness of toasted cereals. This part of the whisky is a burst of flavour, which bites and then falls away.

The final flavours are where the whisky gives away its age. They are green, leafy and somehow floral.

Mouthfeel: Light, so light. 

Overall: I can’t say that I was blown away by this whisky. It was flavour full, but not in the same league as some of its countries other drams. It would be a great whisky to drink at the start of an evening, or as an aperitif to some punchy food. Its cost alone however means that I wouldn’t recommend it to others. I was glad to drink it, if only to prove to myself that not all Japanese whisky is bulletproof.

Aroma: 14

Start: 13

Middle: 14

Finish: 14

Value: 13

Overall: 68/100

More Information: Nikka EU Website

Available: The Champagne Company