Review #185 - Nikka Coffey Malt
Made from 100% malted barley, but this isn't a single malt - this is a grain whisky, due to the use of a continuous still in the distillation process, as opposed to pot stills. This isn't just any continuous still, either; it's a Coffey still, invented and patented by Aeneas Coffey in the early 19th century.
There isn't much information about the types of casks used for maturation, and we don't have an age statement, either; like much of Japanese whisky at the moment, the details are quite opaque.
Nikka Coffey Malt
Japan - Grain
Current Locally Available Price: USD 77 (2023)
Age Statement: NAS
Strength: 45% ABV
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 2 times over 8 months; bottles at 60% and 40% fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a Glencairn glass each time, rested 10-15 minutes
Nose: Soft, sweet, and the malt flavors are quite strong - barley sugar, vanilla, grain, and lemon cake. There's soft green apple and a just a hint of a wine influence, and later, nutmeg and an earthy character.
Palate: Again, lots of malty cereal notes create the backbone of the whisky, and it's overlaid with lots of sweet flavors: pineapple rum cake, caramel, pancakes, and maple syrup; hints of chocolate bitters and exotic yellow fruit come in, and then some dry white wine and coffee liqueur. The mouthfeel is soft, maybe medium-thin.
Finish: Medium-short, and it's quite sweet overall - butterscotch, pears, caramel, and a little bit of perfume, before the softest oak prickle on the back end.
Final Note: This is nice and pleasant to sip on, and not overly complex; the relatively reserved casks allow the maltiness of the base spirit to shine through nicely. Plenty of sweet grainy flavors... quite sweet as a whole, really. Value is okay, and at this point, it's definitely one of the more affordable Japanese whiskies.
Our Average Rating: 6.8 / 10
In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.
Value Rating: 6.33
