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Nikka 12 years

woody malty
4.3
(3)€125Japan, Blended

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Facts

Nikka imported two Coffey stills from Scotland in 1963 and installed them at Miyagikyo. Those columns still run, and their grain whisky forms the base of this 12 year old blend. Malt from Yoichi on Hokkaido adds weight and a trace of smoke. Miyagikyo malt brings pear and apple. The result is sweet without being soft: caramel and brown sugar up front, pepper and orange peel at the close. Nikka has been distilling since 1934. Released for the company's 80th anniversary, it stayed a Japanese-market bottling. Pour it neat and the grain sweetness carries everything else.

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About the distillery

Distillery

Nikka

Nikka is a Japanese whisky distillery founded by Masataka Taketsuru, known as the father of Japanese whisky, in 1934. The distillery is located in Yoichi, a town on the northern island of Hokkaido, and is one of the oldest and most respected whisky producers in Japan. Nikka's whisky is made using a combination of Scottish and Japanese techniques. The distillery produces several expressions of single malt whisky, including the Yoichi 10-year-old and the Miyagikyo 12-year-old. Nikka's whisky is known for its delicate and complex flavor profile, which often features notes of fruit, oak, and smoke. The distillery's blending skills are also highly regarded, and its blended whiskies, such as the Nikka From the Barrel, have won numerous awards.

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24Whiskies on Distilld

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About the Nikka 12 years

Nikka 12 years is a blended whisky from Japan, bottled at 43% ABV. The age statement covers everything in the bottle. Three parts make up the blend. Malt comes from the Yoichi and Miyagikyo distilleries. Grain whisky forms the base, and it is the piece that shapes the whole. A decanter-style bottle and premium packaging set it apart on the shelf. This one was released for the company's 80th anniversary. That grain comes from two Coffey stills at Miyagikyo. Nikka imported them from Scotland in 1963, when almost nobody else wanted the old design. Continuous distillation through those columns gives a rounder, sweeter grain than modern kit does. The mash is mostly corn with a little malted barley. Yoichi sits far north on Hokkaido and gives the blend its firmer, smokier edge. Fruit comes from Miyagikyo, near Sendai. Vanilla and ginger show first, with a little leather behind them. Pear and green apple bring a floral lift. Caramel and brown sugar take over once you taste it. Coconut and cream soda follow, then citrus and apple. Oak runs underneath all of it. Milk chocolate sits in the background throughout. Things dry out at the end, with pepper, orange peel and dried apricot. Tobacco lingers longest. Most of Nikka's range puts a single distillery front and centre. Nikka 12 years does the opposite. It shows what the company can do when it blends across both sites. The grain whisky is not filler here. It is the spine of the blend. Yoichi's weight keeps the sweetness in check. Sold mainly in Japan, this one is scarce outside the country. Anyone curious about those Coffey stills should start here.