Nikka Days

Volume: 0.7 litres | Alcohol content: 40% | Chill filtration: Yes | Colouring: Yes

Special Features:

Nikka Days combines mild grain whiskies with lightly peated malts in a fruity, floral blend with a particularly silky mouthfeel. Coffey Grain Whisky and unpeated Miyagikyo malts form its foundation. Additional portions of Coffey Malt Whisky and Yoichi malts bring sweetness and body.

Conceived as a whisky for relaxed occasions, Nikka Days can be enjoyed neat, over ice or as a highball with soda water, and also works in cocktails. Its rounded bottle and bright label reflect its light, approachable character. It is bottled at 40% alcohol in a 0.7-litre bottle and comes in gift packaging.

Nikka Days comes from the Japanese whisky house Nikka, but does not meet all the Japan Spirits & Liqueur Makers Association's criteria for the designation Japanese Whisky.

Tasting Notes:

• Nose: The nose is fresh, fruity and floral. Pear and citrus fruits mingle with white flowers and orange blossom.
• Palate: The whisky opens softly on the palate with a creamy, sweet texture. Cereal, malt and toffee meet toasted nuts and vanilla. A light peat note emerges on the mid-palate.
• Finish: Dried apricot, malt and vanilla linger on the finish, complemented by an elusive hint of peat.

Distillery/Bottler:

Masataka Taketsuru founded Yoichi distillery on Hokkaido in 1934. He had found a cool climate and natural conditions there that reminded him of Scotland. Yoichi uses directly coal-fired pot stills with downward-sloping lyne arms. This design and direct heating help underpin its powerful, full-bodied malt style.

In 1969, Taketsuru established Miyagikyo west of Sendai with a deliberately different approach. Its steam-heated pot stills have bulbous necks and upward-sloping lyne arms that encourage reflux during distillation. The result is a softer, fruity and floral malt style that provides a counterpoint to Yoichi. For grain whisky, Nikka also uses traditional Coffey stills for continuous distillation, preserving the grain's sweet, creamy character. The Coffey stills were moved to Miyagikyo in 1999.

Facts: