It's been a hot minute since Nikka came on the scene and helped to establish whiskymaking in Japan, where today Japan is one of the foremost and notable countries producing some incredible whiskies.

And if that might seem like something fairly doable - withstanding 90 years of whiskymaking - we have to go over the incredible story of Nikka Whisky. And thus the Nine Decades expression bears testament to that story as we'll find out shortly - it's Nikka's very own infinity bottle, capturing the entire story of Nikka into one single cuvee. This is quite possibly the infinity bottle to end all infinity bottles! I know of no other distillery or brand that has been able to (or had the foresight!) to stash away whiskies from every key chapter, within here being whiskies distilled as far back as the 1940's, so that they may one day bring it all together like this - this is precisely 90 years in the making!

Haven't we all tried making our own infinity bottle at some point of the other? Well, this one is filled with whisky lore that is quite on a whole other level altogether.

The Incredible Story Of Nikka Whisky

Now of course, we can't talk about Nikka without talking about the man himself, Masataka Taketsuru, the Father of Japanese whiskymaking!

In the spirit of capturing Nikka's highlight reel, let's delve right in.

Masataka Taketsuru has come from a line of Sake brewers, yet he found himself much more interested in the art of distillation instead of brewing, and thus when the opportunity arose for him to be sent to Scotland to learn whiskymaking and bring it back to Japan, he of course went for it!

There he would not only detail all that he learnt, having even apprenticed at Scotch distilleries, but he would also meet his wife! Together they would return to Japan in a bid to bring whiskymaking to Japan, as well as being the first Japanese to have made the voyage to Scotland to do so. Upon returning, he would work with a winemaker Shinjiro Torii, to produce Japan's first whisky, under the name Kotobukiya - or perhaps you might have heard of Suntory. 

The Yoichi Distillery.

A Fork In The Road, Testing One Man's Conviction

Taketsuru would find himself tested quickly - looking back we could say that his first whisky was perhaps too far ahead of its time. Folks weren't accustomed to Scotch style whiskies or single malts. This led to Taketsuru taking a bet on himself and committed to his faith that one day his whiskies would be well loved.

This eventually led to him setting out on his own to start Nikka's first distillery, the Yoichi Distillery in Hokkaido. The choice to situate himself in Hokkaido was by no means a coincidence - for Taketsuru, the snowy and cooler terrain was reminiscent of Scotland. It also offered him much space to practice his golf, yet another vestige from his time in Scotland. Shinjiro Torii would later adapt his whiskies to fit local palates, which in turn led to lighter and more delicate whiskies that went well as a Highball. Yet Taketsuru would keep to his beliefs, producing a smoky whisky that was more muscular and bolder stylistically.

The first apples in Japan landed in Hokkaido!

Where Did That Name Come From Anyway?

If you ever wondered where that name Nikka came about - those familiar with Japan might also know that Hokkaido is the first place where apples orchards would be brought to Japan. And thus in the early years, Taketsuru would produce apple juice to sustain his whiskymaking endeavours - hence the Dai Nippon Kaju or the Great Japan Juice, which would eventually be shortened to Nikka (Nippon Kaju). A fun fact here is that till this day Nikka continues to produce apple brandy, which it has even matured its whiskies in said apple brandy barrels!

Always focused on the craft, Taketsuru never stopped innovating.

The following decades were tough, with the war and rationing, as well as the economic conditions that followed, yet through it all Taketsuru never once lost his faith, quietly sitting on his barrels of whisky that would continue to age regardless of the fast changing world around it. Taketsuru was quick witted and steered Nikka through these turbulent times, always making sure that his whiskies were produced to as best a quality as they could be. He would continue to hone his whiskymaking techniques, and is even responsible for being the first to bring the Coffey column still to Japan, allowing him to produce high quality grain whiskies for his blends (and you can still taste Nikka's Coffey Grain and Coffey Malt whiskies today!).

The Miyagikyo Distillery in Sendai.

The Building Of A Japanese Icon

In celebration of Nikka's 35th anniversary since the founding of the Yoichi Distillery in Hokkaido, the Miyagikyo Distillery was established in Sendai. Together Nikka would be able to produce a smoky and muscular, bold whisky from Yoichi, and a more delicate, elegant and floral whisky from Miyagikyo. And together with numerous grain distilleries, Nikka has been able to produce a wide range of blended expression through the years. 1989 would see the acquisition of Scotch jewel, the Ben Nevis Distillery, which further bolstered the wide array of whisky styles and flavours that Nikka could tap on in its arsenal - perhaps most instrumental of which has been the ability to create Nikka's sensational and all time classic hit, the Nikka Straight From The Barrel (Fun Fact: it's unique design was created for Nikka by fashion designer Issey Miyake's design studio!).

That's one heck of an infinity bottle.

Nikka's Own Infinity Bottle From Nine Decades Of Distilling

And so we sit here in front of the Nikka Nine Decades with total reverence and reminiscence of the incredible history of Nikka - all of which captured in this legendary infinity bottle.

So what's in the bottle exactly! 

It's said that there are at least 50 components in here, with whisky distilled from as early as the 1940's, which has to be Yoichi malt whisky, and then we've also got the earliest malt whiskies from Miyagikyo from the 1970's. There's also grain whiskies in here from Moji, as well as several grain distilleries that have since been mothballed, as Nikka tells us there's six distillery sources in here, including also whisky from Scotch distillery, Ben Nevis. I've heard it said that there's malted barley, Coffey grain, Coffey malt, unmalted barley, corn and rye all in here. In terms of barrel types, well this spans the universe of Virgin American oak, 2nd Fill Virgin American oak, Sherry, European oak, Wine barrels, French oak, Mizunara, Recharred, Remade, Refill, and of course, Bourbon. Rumor has it that even the first experiments with producing Miyagikyo malt whisky with Nikka's proprietary aromatic yeast has been included inside!

And as you can see, what we have here is a historic piece of not just Nikka whisky, but the very story of Japanese whiskymaking itself. I've heard it wondered back when the expression was first teased, if this were some hyper-aged whisky from Nikka's earliest years, perhaps some 90 year old expression or something of the sort - make no mistake, this is far more poetic. It is the entire story of Nikka fitted into one single expression - it's Nikka's very own infinity bottle.

Without further ado, let's get to tasting!

Whisky Review: Nikka Nine Decades, 48% ABV

Tasting Notes 

Colour: Amber

Aroma: It opens up with thick wafts of caramel, along with a nuttiness of some peanut butter. There's an air of mustiness about it of antique wooden furnishings. It's rich and heady. Some more exotic spices of cardamom and anise garnishes the bouquet, with even a light herbaceousness. With time (as is always the case with well-aged Nikka whiskies), it loosens up and takes an even richer and more sensuous quality, with manuka honey, honeycomb candy, milk chocolate, as well as dried prunes, figs and raisins. It's almost more syrupy and viscous, with more on rum 'n' raisin ice cream, along with a brighter tone of green apples. Letting it sit further, it continues to become more lifted and open up some more, with increasingly more orchard fruits, with an emphasis on red apples. It maintains a great richness and concentration at its core, heady around the rim, settling on a nugget of honey and caramel, along with raisins and red apples.

Taste: Medium-bodied here, here it's already more open, with well defined and concentrated notes of honey, apples, cloves and cardamom, some peanut butter at the base, along with that mustiness of antique wood furnishings. Maltose, lacquer, bazaar spices, and crushed peanuts comes to mind. That nuttiness continues to develop, pushing into peanut butter and smoked peanuts. The fruitiness also persists with a good serving of dried apricots. It starts off very concentrated yet mellow, also pointed in a way, and along the way it fans out beautifully, with ripples of nuttiness, spices and orchard fruits, all shrouded in an aromatic mustiness. Into the finish, there's more of a savouriness of charcuterie meats, along with some burnt ends of charred meat - it's almost Pappy like.

Finish: The richness persists, as does the apples, honey and spices, coming together to give more of an apple pie note here. There's a light smokiness and barrel char that begins to emerge, alongside that perennial musty woodiness. It's clean and lightly drying, surprisingly the wood has been very subtle aside from the aromatics. A deep and long warmth, more apple pie ensues.

My Thoughts 

This is a whisky that is surprisingly harmonious - it comes together perfectly cohesively as if it were just one whole of its own - you couldn't pick out any sense that there were even 'components' to begin with. This is a subtle yet completely masterful demonstration as every of those over 50 parts have been so well-married and perfectly measured and fitted into one another. It exudes this understated mastery in the art of blending. It displayed such perfect harmony in that sense, and did so with finesse and elegance.

There are of course layers upon layers weaved together, yet there wasn't ever a sense of any overcrowding of flavours, almost singling out distinct flavours that it builds up or digs into to showcase facets of. Something also has to be said about how the oak is controlled perfectly here. I was initially curious if the oaky notes would be overly pronounced, and yet what I found here was that aside from the aromatics of musty antique wooden furniture, the wood influence was incredibly fine, almost playing the sole role of providing the richness of the body some structure, with little bearing on the flavour at all.

And finally, it should be said plain and simply - this is one incredibly fine whisky! All throughout it gives you this sense of antiquity, almost excitable even, like the sensations you'd associate with discovering an artefact, with that evocative mustiness. As with all well-aged Nikka whiskies, I've come to learn that it always, always pays to give it time to open up, and this was once again the case with the Nikka Nine Decades - yet, it did so in a very interesting manner. As it opened up, it took on a more lifted and airy and brighter quality, offering up aromatic and fresh orchard fruits, yet texturally it seems to melt into something more syrupy and richer. On the palate it starts off concentrated and pointed, and then fans out beautifully, tacking on variations of exotic spices and nuttiness, with alittle savouriness into the finish.

I really enjoyed how aromatic this was, and I really gave it a good 10 minutes of letting it open up on the nose, enjoying the evolution along the way. Also I really enjoyed how it gains richness as it opens up, and turns more sensuous with time. It's a rich yet clean and structured body, that's almost immaculately composed. That nuttiness, mellowness and mustiness, concentrated and rich, also seems to remind me of Pappy and Wellers where I've found similar qualities.

Happy 90th anniversary Nikka! To many, many more decades!

Kanpai!

@111hotpot