Not - Japanese (?) Malt Whisky | 45% ABV

Opacity

Japanese whisky has long been criticised for its misleading labels, that is, selling non-Japanese whiskies as Japanese.

I think the most prominent example of this is the Nikka Whisky from the Barrel. Ironically, this whisky never states that the whisky is exclusively Japanese, but because of how it’s presented, it seems to suggest to the casual onlooker that it is a Japanese whisky.

To be fair to the Japanese whisky industry, a lot of the bigger brands have recently been quite up front when a whisky in fact includes non - Japanese whiskies in the blend, for example, the Suntory Ao is widely marketed as a world blend, leaving no ambiguity to consumers. Another good example would be the Ichiro’s Malt and Grain. Ichiro has been very communicative about the components in this blend, containing whiskies from all of Japan, Scotland, Ireland, Canada, and the USA.

The whisky of today’s review, however, is not so transparent and still quite misleading. To make things even more confusing, its sibling, Nikka Coffey Grain, is in fact fully Japanese.

What non-Japanese whisky is included? The simple answer is Ben Nevis, and it makes sense because Nikka owns the Ben Nevis Distillery. Dig a little bit deeper though, and we find a little nugget of Japanese whisky history.

Of Nikka’s two distilleries, Yoichi focuses on pot still distillation of malt whisky, so only Miyagikyo produce grain whiskies using continuous Coffey stills, two of them, imported from Scotland in the 1960s, and to this day, these two stills are the only Coffey stills in Japan.

However, as production from Miyagikyo could not keep up with demand, whisky from Ben Nevis was brought in, as well as whisky distilled from the now closed Nishinomiya Plant. Interestingly, this Ben Nevis whisky isn’t simply shipped in from Scotland and directly used for blending, the new make - not whisky - is redistilled when it reaches Japan to supposedly “reintegrate” the spirit before ageing. Whether this was really necessary I am not in a position to say, but maybe the original character of the Ben Nevis spirit was not what Nikka wanted, and redistilling it must have transformed it into something else.

By Nikka’s own admission, this Coffey Malt does not meet all the criteria of “Japanese whisky” as defined by the JSLMA (Japan Spirits & Liqueur Makers Association) and the wording in the same paragraph is a bit cheeky.

It says “Coffey Malt is all distilled in Nikka’s Coffey stills, but a part of the old batches in the formula was made from distillates imported from Ben Nevis and then distilled in our Coffey stills as a part of our experiments in the past.”

The use of phrases like “old batches” and “experiments in the past” seem to imply that adding Ben Nevis into the blend is a thing of the past, but since Nikka can only rely on the two Coffey stills at Miyagikyo to produce malt-grain whisky, and the introduction of Ben Nevis was to help with meeting demands, unless the demand for this whisky has dropped dramatically, I can’t see how the Nikka Coffey Malt can be a “Japanese whisky” in the near future. Certainly, it looks like things are worded to remain as flexible as possible.

Then I fell into another rabbit hole. If Miyagikyo can’t produce enough to satisfy demand for the Coffey Malt, how are they able to do so for the Coffey Grain? Well, this rabbit hole was a rather shallow one. Infamously opaque - as Japanese whisky can be at times - I wasn’t able get much insight with my resources. But since Ben Nevis only handles malted barley, it probably has no facilities to handle corn or other grains, which means Nikka can only “top up” the Coffey Malt by importing from Ben Nevis, so maybe the Coffey stills at Miyagikyo are prioritised to produce the Coffey Grain. Only my humble guess from a few internet searches.

Anyway, after all this digging, let’s get back to the whisky.

It’s not often that malted barley is processed through column stills, there could be many reasons for that, but I think the single biggest reason is that under SWA regulations, once malted barley is distilled in a column still, the resulting whisky cannot be called a single malt whisky, it therefore defaults to ‘grain whisky’ and I don’t have to explain the difference in market value of malt whisky and grain whisky to Dramface readers. Which is a shame, because I think different flavour profiles can be achieved by distilling in different stills. Sure, as Broddy has informed us, column stills can push spirit up to 94.5% ABV, which leaves very little room for compounds that are responsible for flavour, but that doesn’t mean every distiller needs to push their spirits to those limits. Most well known recent examples of this would be Loch Lomond’s Single Grain whiskies, where the raw ingredients are 100% malted barley distilled in column stills, offering a different take on malt whisky - sorry SWA - whisky made from 100% malted barley.

Review 1/3 - Murdo

Nikka Coffey Malt, Official bottling, 100% malt from a Coffey still, 45% ABV
~£65 paid and wide availability

The Nikka Coffey Malt, with all its faults (likely coloured and possibly chill filtered), is the only widely available whisky I can think of that offers this experience, so it has become a staple on my shelf, as a reference to… exactly what the label says, Coffey malt whisky. So let’s see what Broddy and I think of it.

Score: 4/10

**Some promise.**
***TL;DR***
*A 4/10 that I’m actually delighted to own*

Nose

Quite sharp and solventy at first, but a whiff of peppered vanilla soon takes over. Creamy and milky, some sort of sweet melon in the background coming through as well.

Palate

Molten milk chocolate, that’s one note that I cannot shake off. It’s not just ordinary milk chocolate, but when it’s melted and its perceived sweetness is dialled up to eleven. It’s quite fizzy when it comes to texture, paired with these creamy and sweet flavours, it does remind me a lot of cream soda; the finish is quite short and turns rather solventy, but it’s also where the vanilla from the nose returns.

The Dregs

Like I said before, this offers a different take on malt-based whisky. I can find a connection between this whisky and “proper” malt whiskies that I’m usually accustomed to. If anything, it’s quite a fun whisky. Upon interrogation though, there’s a solvent note that seems to linger, just like its sibling the Coffey Grain of yesterday’s focus. However, despite the score I give here, I’m happy to have this bottle, and I wonder if a better-aged version of this might yield a more interesting flavour experience?

Score: 4/10 MMc

Review 2/3 - Broddy

Nikka Coffey Malt, Official bottling, 100% malt from a Coffey still, 45% ABV
~CAD$65 paid (£42) and wide availability

A happy accident. The Colonials - the megalomaniacal superweapon that we are - have been brewing the next collab reviews in the background. It’s a great way for us to stay connected to each other across hemispheres and monstrous time zone differences but most importantly, it distinguishes our international perspectives compared to the ‘UK-based’ group (now featuring even more European firepower!). Hopefully this draws in our international audience too, much like our different flavour take on the Dramface podcast!

Why the happy accident? Well, I had waited for a discount code to buy this whisky and when the code popped up (they’re consistently periodic), I snagged this for a casual 20% off. After a very friendly mule pickup from the store by a friend, I opened the hand-delivered box. To the wrong whisky.

I had ordered the Nikka Coffey Grain, which was the original collab article which has preceded this review by a day. Upon a quick snap to the Colonial’s group chat, our dependable Murdo spoke up and had this whisky sitting on the shelves. Well now! The plan was immediately hatched to have a back-to-back of Nikka’s two Coffey still products, featuring the Colonial’s perspectives. Hurrah!

Score: 6/10

**Good stuff.**
***TL;DR***
*Come for the luscious mouthfeel, stay for a second glass*

Nose

Quite Japanese. Trace of high heart cut point acetone-like notes bordering on red apple-like notes that I very often find in Japanese whiskies. Not a bad thing since it’s quite delicate and fades with bottle time and also air time in the glass. Once that initial and fleeting acetone/red apple thing passes your receptors, it’s into light honey and simple syrup territory. Retronasal brings tinned peaches and apricots to join the syrup party.

Palate

Ooh la la. Syrupy, soft, luscious mouthfeel. Crisp red apples draped in thick honey. Light caramel. Low wax content milk chocolate (aka not the cheap stuff) that melts instantly in your mouth. Then some vanilla pound cake and tinned peaches appear. The finish is medium-long and is a gentle decline of the entire experience. The 45% abv is perfectly quaffable and begs you to refill the glass when done.

The Dregs

For a highly inflated and borderline premiumised segment, Nikka’s pricing strategy must be commended. Their core range, if they call it that, remains relatively affordable compared to many others, and with significant variety to boot! Grain, malt, sherried, and peated. Something for everyone!

From memory, I believe I preferred the Miyagikyo, but this is a close second, with the Coffey Grain coming in third (again - from memory). I’ve yet to try Nikka’s peated Yoichi whisky, but I’ve heard good things.

This whisky earns its slightly above average score because of the excellent mouthfeel, something many Scottish single malts struggle to achieve despite age statements and other criticalities such as non-chill filtration. Yes there are some slight solvent notes but those are typical of the segment (I used to drink lots of Japanese before the recent pricing woes) and they often disappear with air time.

As Nikka states on their back label, this 100% malt whisky was specially developed to have extraordinary texture and I’d say they’ve achieved it.

Go on, give this a try. You might just like it.

Score: 6/10 BB

Review 3/3 - Wally

Nikka Coffey Malt, Official bottling, 100% malt from a Coffey still, 45% ABV
~£65 paid and wide availability

Sorry, I couldn’t help but hop in and muddy the pure and serene Colonial waters to rinse off a little European grime on this back-to-back, two-day collaborative. Besides, it keeps each day on three reviews each so… balance.

However, Broddy mentioned a word - superweapon. That’s a perfect fit for what I’m about to say about this whisky, and also why it’s never a good idea to rely on the Dramface scoring alone. Because, in one very specific but eye-popping way, this whisky could easily be considered - forgive the Gen Z parlance - overpowered.

Yet I’m at a stretch to score it a 6. How so?

Well, I hope many of us might relate to what I’m about to suggest. That is, as we happily slide down whisky’s helter-skelter of discovery, we inevitably want to find others with whom to share the fun. Either we go out and find like-minded souls or we ‘convert’ those closer to hand - our friends and family.

It’s with the latter we see Nikka’s oddball Coffey Malt come into its own. Especially if your quarry is of a sweeter-toothed disposition, this is the nuke button of conversion. Even if you’ve failed with the deep, dark sherry bombs, the soft and waxy Highlanders, the orchard sweet Speysiders and the hook of Islay’s peat smoke, you may just discover you’ll succeed with this. It is whisky’s version of a glass of chocolate.

In a nice way.

Score: 6/10

**Good stuff.**
***TL;DR***
*It has a superpower that might be unique*

Nose

Jaffa cakes; a freshly opened pack. Sweet mandarin segments in syrup, pineapple cubes too. There are some cocoa-derived notes, but the ‘lightness’ on the nose hides what’s just about to happen.

Palate

Rudely thick on arrival. The substantial mouthfeel is almost jarring as it comes with an accessible 45%, no mean feat. Chocolate covered toffee caramels swirl with orange juice and butterscotch, with even more chocolate - milk! The finish is akin to having just enjoyed one of those toffee caramels. It’s liqueur-like.

Try a drop or two of water, but there’s not too much effect - very little is uncovered in complexity beyond a slight pop of woodspice. For the real fun, try a double pour in a tumbler over a huge chunk of ice for extended texture-contrasting pleasure.

The Dregs

I don’t have a sweet tooth. Sweet cocktails, desserts and soft drinks are not really my bag, but I enjoy a lick of sweetness in grain spirits. However, this has more than that, yet it is somehow not sickly to me. Also, this bottle has been opened a while and the solvent aspect mentioned above, I think, seems to have dissipated.

Yes, it’s opaque, confusing and oddball enough that you really need to spend less time thinking about how it comes to be and more time trying to imagine what else is like it - because I do think this is unique.

I’d agree with my peers that the Coffey Grain from Nikka they shared yesterday is a neither-meat-nor-fish take on a bourbon-alike, and comes off a bit lost; floating in an in-between space where no one is looking. But this is different.

It deserves a space on every accumulator-sharer’s shelf and it’s at no risk of losing that spot to anything else remotely similar.

On your next ‘this is an overview of whisky’ line up, throw this in and see how it flies.

Score: 6/10 WMc

Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. MMc

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