Japanese Blended Whiskies: A style on its own

I have decided to start cleaning my queue of samples. There are so much to drink that I have sorted them in a similar style so I can more easily compare them and find the greatest whisky between them. And all free for you!

On a first round, I am tasting four Japanese blended whiskies. They are not very common here in Europe but they are really tasty.

Nikka Gold & Gold

“Nice nose and delicious taste. This is how blends should be. A very nice whisky just a bit over woody”

88

Gold & Gold has been one of the mainstays of Nikka's range of blended whiskies since its launch in 1968.

This version is actually called "Shirobin" or "White bottle", even though the labeling is all in black. I think the "white" probably refers to the transparent glass, which I think can also be described as "shiroi" in Japanese.

This dram has a cooper-like color.

Nose (87): more than average. honey, fruits, apples, pepper, wood, nuts.

Palate (88): powerful, oily. honey, nuts, leather, citrus, vanilla, tobacco, wood. A bit over woody but quite fine.

Finish (89): longer than average. honey, citrus, wood.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Nikka Gold & Gold with 88 points over 100.

The Blend of Nikka

“It is nothing spectacular but it comes in a f*** awesome bottle. Nice whisky”

87

An amazing crystal decanter from Nikka containing one of their fabulous japanese whiskies.

This dram has a cooper-like color.

Nose (87): more than average. honey, fruits, apples, citrus, pepper, vanilla.

Palate (87): powerful, oily. honey, wood, spices, cinnamon, citrus.

Finish (88): longer than average. honey, citrus, spices.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Nikka The Blend Selecction with 87 points over 100.

Super Nikka Whisky

“A bit flat on the palate but a lovely nose on this one... the weakest whisky from Nikka I have tried”

87

A no-age-statement 'vatted pure malt' (their description, not ours!). These days the SWA are campaigning to ban the use of 'pure' in the description of whiskies), from Nikka. This has been bottled at cask strength.

This dram has a cooper-like color.

Nose (89): more than average. honey, spices, fruits, apples, melon, cinnamon.

Palate (86): smooth, oily. honey, wood, spices, citrus.

Finish (86): average. honey, citrus, wood.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Nikka Super with 87 points over 100.

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Ginkgo

“Interesting japanese whisky. It is slightly more citric and floral than the average japanese whisky.”

88

A Japanese blended malt, this was created by Ichiro Akuto who once worked at the Hanyu distillery. Ginkgo is the name of a tree which is believed to date back 150 million years, used for its medicinal qualities.

This dram has a gold-like color.

Nose (89): more than average. honey, citrus, spices, floral, pepper, vanilla.

Palate (88): powerful, oily. honey, pepper, citrus, vanilla, wood, spices.

Finish (88): average. honey, pears, wood.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Ginkgo Blended Malt with 88 points over 100.

Miguel says…

They are all of them nice whiskies, the three Nikka very similar in style. And in my opinion better than similar blended scotch whiskies. Just keep in mind that this stuff in Japan costs around half the money they charged us for in EU/UK.

Ginkgo has been quite astonishing. It remind me a lot of Irish whiskey… quite floral and dry. Not my favorite style.

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