My annual holiday card from Nikka landed yesterday, and for a stationery geek who seldom receives anything by post, this is always a special treat. While it seems that everyone else in the business has done away with the pomp and expense of printed communications, the Japanese have a deep-rooted respect for tradition and Nikka as an organization is no different.
As always I take my time in opening the envelope, running my fingers over the gold embossing of Nikka’s coat of arms, and holding it up to the light so that I can admire the glint of the gold foil against the shimmer of the envelope’s iridescent coating. Opening the envelope – gingerly! – I yearn to go back to Japan as I’m reminded of their affinity for detail and penchant for packaging as an art form, admittedly over the top at times (and as troubling as that can be from an environmental perspective.)
With 2024 being Nikka’s 90th anniversary, this year’s card features silver, gold and copper accents overlaid on a design that pays homage to founder Masataka Taketsuru and his Scottish wife Rita, with their portrait at the centre of a barrel. Surrounding them is the iconography of Nikka’s rich heritage: an apple (Taketsuru first made apple juice when he founded Yoichi distillery); glasses of whisky served mizuwari – with water on ice – and as a highball (as per Japanese custom); and outlines of pot stills from both Yoichi and Miyagikyo distilleries, as well as the Coffey still at Miyagikyo (Taketsuru did an apprenticeship at the Bo’ness Distillery in Scotland where he learned to use a Coffey still, and eventually purchased one to make his own grain whisky.)
Also illustrated are the distinctive shapes of some of Nikka’s most popular whiskies including the square carton of Nikka From the Barrel, the bulbous curves of Super Nikka, and the asymmetrical lines of the stylish decanter designed for The Nikka, a truly sublime duet of blended whiskies launched ten years earlier for their 80th anniversary.
It’s a geeky Easter egg that brings to mind of one of the best tastings I've ever attended, hosted by Nikka’s chief blender Tadashi Sakuma as he shepherded us through samples of The Nikka 12 Year Old and The Nikka 40 Year Old. Like the keener at the front of the class, I raised my hand to ask Sakuma-san if he felt stifled next to his Scottish counterparts, given that Japanese distillers do not trade casks among themselves for blending. His answer was that he in fact had far greater flexibility than any blender in Scotland, given his access to at least 3000 different whiskies. Sakuma-san went on to explain that despite having just three distilleries, Nikka achieved such breadth in its stock portfolio by distilling with dozens of different yeast strains, routinely adjusting fermentation times, and working with a variety of still shapes and cask types, all of which produced vastly different styles of whisky.
But as they say, the proof is in the glass. As a blend of three casks – including a Miyagikyo 1969 – the 40 Year Old was quite predictably a tour de force that exuded mastery and silenced the room. It was also a unicorn that I would probably never taste again. However it was the 12 Year Old that took me aback as it strode along the catwalk with equal confidence. Here was the humble blend elevated to more than the sum of its parts, a luscious, elegant whisky leading with a deep, fruity nose marked by a ripple of peat, and equally sumptuous to taste. In short it was that rare bird: a rich, malt-heavy blend that makes me look for a spoon as I forget about single malts for a good minute or ten.
This easily outclassed any comparable Scotch I could think of, and while full credit was due to Sakuma-san and his blending prowess, I couldn’t help but think that Miyagikyo’s Coffey still was his secret weapon. Purchased by Taketsuru in 1963, next to more modern equipment these square columns were inefficient and hard to clean, but produced a more flavourful ‘not-so-neutral’ spirit – just as Taketsuru wanted.
Despite the mantra that blending is all about consistency, a visit to Japan a few months later saw us purchase a full case of that initial batch of The Nikka 12 Year Old. Most of these were opened for Spirit of Toronto’s Japanese whisky showcase in 2015 just before a certain award – and the feeding frenzy that followed – made Japanese whisky all but extinct. One of the casualties was The Nikka 12 Year Old which was discontinued along with the rest of Nikka’s age stated whiskies due to supply issues.
Fast forward nine years and I’m down to the last bottle with no clue as to when it will be opened, though I suspect that it won’t be shared with too many others. The trend these days is for heavy oak, long ageing, bright flavours, and high proofs that make your eyes water, the bonafides that the chattering classes typically look for in establishing a whisky’s street cred.
By contrast this Nikka 12 Year Old is a lowly blend bottled at a mere 43% abv – with chill filtration, blasphemy! – and aged for a paltry twelve years, irrespective of the fact that it’s a byword for opulence and finesse. Sadly, in my experience, the wondrous beauty of a perfectly balanced whisky tends to fall on deaf ears, but in this case I’m fine with it. No pressure to open, no pressure to share, which leaves all the more for me.