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Nikka Taketsuru The Grain

malty fruity
4.2
(1)€125Japan

Flavours

Whisky character

Fresh
Warm
Mild
Full
Smooth
Spicy

Taste mentions

Facts

In 1963, Masataka Taketsuru installed Nikka's first Coffey still at the Nishinomiya plant. That machine was already old-fashioned when it arrived. He wanted it anyway, because it leaves the grain's own flavour in the spirit. Sixty years on, this bottling pulls together grain spirit from four Nikka sites. Some are long-aged stocks from Nishinomiya, which closed in 1999. Others come from Moji and Satsumatsukasa, two plants that spent decades making shochu. The result is soft and sweet, with vanilla, orchard fruit and a dry rye spice at the end. Nothing is chill filtered out, so the texture stays thick.

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Master of Malt
Master of Malt
700ml
€174.99 ( £150 ) Buy 
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About the distillery

Distillery

Nikka Taketsuru

Masataka Taketsuru spent two years in Scotland before returning to Japan determined to make whisky the way he'd learned it there. Nikka Taketsuru carries his name and blends single malts from the company's two distilleries into one whisky. Yoichi, on Japan's northern coast in Hokkaido, sits in snow country and produces a robust, smoky malt reminiscent of Scotland's coastal style. Miyagikyo, tucked in a misty valley farther south, yields something softer and more elegant. Blenders combine the two, aided by sherry cask maturation, to build complexity without leaning on grain whisky. The result won top honors at the World Whiskies Awards in 2007. It remains one of the best-known pure malt whiskies to come out of Japan. That is a fitting tribute to the man credited as the father of Japanese whisky.

3.3Average rating

10Whiskies on Distilld

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About the Nikka Taketsuru The Grain

Nikka Taketsuru The Grain is a blended grain whisky from Japan, bottled at 48%. It was the third and final release in the Nikka Discovery series, launched in March 2023. Seven separate grain whiskies from four Nikka sites go into the blend. Coffey grain from the Miyagikyo distillery in Sendai sits at its centre. Only 20,000 bottles were made, split evenly between Japan and export markets. Masataka Taketsuru fitted Nikka's first Coffey still at the Nishinomiya plant in 1963. The design was obsolete even then, and that was the point. Older stills strip out less of the grain's character. That still moved to Miyagikyo in 1999, when Nishinomiya shut down. Long-aged stock from both places appears here. So does grain from Moji and Satsumatsukasa, two Nikka plants that previously made only shochu. Aromas of marmalade and cider come first, backed by vanilla and toasted grain like warm cookies. The palate is sweet and malty, with honey and plum sitting under a cinnamon warmth. Fresh fruit runs through the middle, keeping everything light on its feet. Rye brings a dry, spicy edge that stops the sweetness from spreading. A faint bitterness closes it, closer to dark chocolate than to oak. Nikka Taketsuru The Grain is not the everyday Coffey Grain bottling you find on shelves. That one comes wholly from Miyagikyo. This blend reaches into closed plants and shochu stills instead. It carries flavours Nikka had never bottled before. Skipping chill filtration keeps the texture thick and slightly oily. For anyone curious about how far grain whisky can stretch, it is a rare chance to taste the range.