Nikka Whisky From The Barrel was first launched in 1985 and has been stealing hearts ever since. Built from a marriage of malt and grain whiskies, largely drawn from Nikka’s Yoichi and Miyagikyo distilleries, it is bottled at a forthright 51.4% ABV because anything less would miss the point. The compact, rectangular bottle reflects its concept, "a small block of whisky", but this rich, oily expression has always punched above its size.
This product does not meet all the criteria of "Japanese whisky" defined by the Japan Spirits & Liqueur Makers Association. You can read more on our blog.
Medium-body with good balance. There are notes of cut flowers and fresh fruits, spice, and a little oak.
Full-bodied and punchy. There is plenty of winter spice and toffee, a little caramel and vanilla, and a good mouthful of fruit.
Long, warming and fruity with a little oaken spice.
Sweet vanilla caramel honey a surprisingly nice dram!!
My future son in law produced this to state his intentions. I loved it at first dram. Still warming up to the man who wants to take my daughter! But since, I’ve sought it out and found two more hard-to-find bottles. Worth it!
The taste is the best of one of Japan's whiskeys. I think anyone can enjoy this Nikka with great pleasure. Especially when you enjoy it neatly with a little extra water.
The reviews here are a little confusing, terms like paint stripper, or overly smokey/peaty seem really odd. Perhaps there is something to the bad batch that folks suggest. There is peat for sure, but more like an Oban or Talisker but much less than you'd typically find in a peaty Ardbeg, Lagavulin, Laphroaig, etc and it's certainly not the dominate flavor nor over powering. Likewise, this is a very smooth dram, maybe warm, but not at all harsh and certainly not paint stripper. I found this to be really well balanced, with some sweet sherry up front transitioning to caramel, butterscotch, tobacco and peat, letting the finish linger long enough to savor. It's a little pricey, so depending on your tastes, you may or may not find this dram worth the cost. Price not withstanding, this is a very good, high quality dram.
I tasted Nikka Barrel in Japan last year, it'd best whiskey you can drink easily. Nit and on the rocks
