I’ve always wondered what they meant by the name of this whisky. In my opinion it implies that some Nikka is not from the barrel, but that would make it something else than whisky. Strange stuff.

Nikka whisky from the barrel is a high strength blend from the Nikka distilleries in Japan. Since the Japanses aren’t big on trading casks it is highly expected that all the whisky in this blend comes from both the Yoichi and Miyagikyo distilleries. At those distilleries they make multiple kinds of whiskies to varying recipes including grain, coffey still and single malt to different levels of peating.

Nose:
Liquorice and vanilla with big hints of white oak and coconut. There’s also some nutmeg and sweet cereals. After a minute or so it becomes a little bit more ‘green’, as in, it smells more like plants.

Taste:
It’s quite sharp, but that’s not really surprising for a blend at 51.4% ABV. Lots of white pepper but also something crisp. The wood flavour is quite heavy with a hint of furniture polish and waxed leather.

Finish:
The finish is rich with pepper, caramel, wood and coconut. Rather medium in length but the vanilla and caramel remain. Like creme brulee.

This is a very terrific blend. I always have liked what the Japanese are doing with whisky and the flavours their bottles bring. This one is a rather typical one with many of the flavours you can also find in other bottlings, maybe apart from the heavily sherried whiskies like Karuizawa.

The blend in batches and double mature their blend as well, so there might be slight taste differences from one batch to another.

Nikka Whisky from the Barrel, 51.4%, batch #04G54A, available from Master of Malt for about € 30 (50cl).