Miyagikyo Grande, Japanese single malt

Sorry, I can't help but pronounce "Grande" like Nachos BellGrande. Was this Nikka's intent? Most of the whisky world (and internet) would see "grande" and assume this single malt comes in a Balthazar. But then they'd be deeply disappointed about the comparatively wee 700mL bottle. So, um, Earth to Nikka, estarás decepcionado.

So what is this grand(?) Miyagikyo? Compared to the standard NAS release, Grande has more sherry casks in the mix and 3 more points of ABV. And it is/was only available via Travel Retail stores. It's still not as dark as Wednesday's Suntory Chita disappointment, so the e150a level is likely minimal.

Despite the above snark, I am curious to find out if this is indeed grand or grande.

Distillery: Miyagikyo

Ownership: Nikka

Type: Single malt

Region: Japan

Age: ???

Maturation: a mix of sherry and bourbon casks with an emphasis on the former

Alcohol by Volume: 48%

Chillfitered? No

e150? Not much if any

(thanks again, Doctors Springbank!)

NOTES

The nose pleasantly mixes almond extract, toffee, toasted pecans, and orange peels. Hints of flowers and peaches brighten the background, and there are no generic raisin/prune notes. The palate comes in malty, salty, and sweet, with more almond than vanilla action. A bit of Meyer lemon zips through the middle, and a light woodiness stays in the background. Its short finish offers tarter citrus, more vanilla, and louder oak spice.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Though neither grand nor grande this Nikka malt, like yesterday's Session, would be a good everyday pour, if you in fact enjoy everyday pours and don't have the widespread Whisky Attention Deficit Disorder. Compared to Session, Miyagikyo Grande is fuller, rounder, and bolder, which is likely due to the higher ABV and single distillery focus. Grande's finish proves to be its weak point with its brevity and louder oak.

I don't have the standard Miyagikyo NAS in front of me, so I cannot state with certainty if Grande is better, but the quality is pretty similar. So if you're in Japan, and are looking at the standard release (¥4500) and Grande (¥10000), you may not get much more for the latter's premium.

Availability - Japan, mostly Travel Retail
Pricing - it was ¥10000 not too long ago
Rating - 83

Three Miyagikyo Key Malts

Beatrice rounded up

Belated Happy Father's Day wishes to all the pappies out there. I hope you had plenty of time to drink alone, like I did.

Damn, that came across precisely as dark as I'd intended it.

Anyway, I'm back. The older folks out there might remember that Nikka's Japanese distilleries had a few 12yo versions of their Key Malts in previous decades. I had a chance to try a pair in Shinjuku, seven years ago.

But on this past Father's Day Eve, I did a side-by-side-by-side comparison of the trio of Miyagikyo Key Malts that were released in 2015-2017. All three were NAS (boooo), bottled at 55%abv (yay?). They were named Malty and Soft, Fruity and Rich, and Sherry and Sweet.

Were they any good, and did they do exactly what it says on the tin......?

Sendai Triplets

Miyagikyo Malty and Soft - 55%abv	Miyagikyo Fruity and Rich - 55%abv	Miyagikyo Sherry and Sweet - 55%abv
Yep, malt on the nose. Malt, marshmallows, green apples and VOCs start things off. Complexity builds with time as orange peel, anise, grapefruit juice, caramel chews and a hint of barrel char appear.	The VOC/raw note appears here too, but more forward than in the M&S's nose. It does have fruit though, specifically kiwis, oranges and yellow nectarines. Malt as well. Some banana pudding. Hint of toffee, hint of farm.	Oloroso-style dry nuttiness leads the nose, followed by malt (again), brine, honey butter and the same raw note as the others. It picks up gunpowder and black raisin notes with time.
Wow, the palate is green. Barley, grass, thyme, rosemary and a hint of yeast fill it edge to edge for a while. Notes of ginger and tart kiwis materialize after some time.	The palate reads more floral than fruity, and less graceful than expected. I find unripe peach, mild lemon, toasted rice and a hint of savoriness first. It gets sweeter slowly, picking up perkier citrus and Ito En's Genki sweet tea.	This one has the thickest mouthfeel of the trio. A big A'bunadh-style sherriness leads the palate. Sweet cherries, bitter walnuts, dried currants and salt follow later.
It finishes with grass, ginger, malt and lime.	The finish is both sweet and drying. Tannin, perhaps? It's also sort of dusty, with mild notes of lemon and lychee.	Luxardo cherry syrup, milk chocolate, black raisins and a hint of dates in the finish.
Diluted to 45%abv: Nice nose: malt, apples, roses, oranges and nut bread. The palate and finish get fruitier, with kiwis, limes and lychees, balancing the sweet and tart well.	Diluted to 45%abv: The nose loses its excitement and complexity. It feels blander, though it does hold onto flowers and citrus. The palate is bitterer, rougher. Peppery and acidic. It finishes tangy, tannic and lightly sweet.	Diluted to 45%abv: Honey, raw nuts, dried currants and mild sulfur make up the nose. More sulfur on the palate now, with lots of dried fruit in the background. It finishes with tannins, raisins and sulfur.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Malty and Soft - It was malty, but I'm not sure about soft. None of these three were soft, possibly because they're all very young. But I really liked the greenness of the M&S's palate, as well as the nose's variety. Once dilution brought out the fruits, this one became the easy winner of the bunch. Still, this may not appeal to all palates.

Fruity and Rich - Japanese single malts can be gorgeously rich (and you have to be rich to buy them), but this one ain't rich. And the M&S may actually have been fruitier. But the palate got more interesting once ignored the "fruity" description, and the nose was very engaging. Just please keep it neat.

Sherry and Sweet - I'd read some complaints about the sulfuric nature of this one. When neat, I didn't sense that much of an issue, but at 45%abv there was some serious S. As mentioned in the notes, this Key Malt had a stylistic similarity to some Aberlour A'bunadh batches, though I'm not the biggest fan of that series. Curiously, despite the sulfur, this was the most forgettable of the three Key Malts.

Whew, all these young malts are beginning to get to me. I'm pretty sure M&S and F&R would have improved with 12+ years in casks, though who knows what would have happened to the S&S&S. Were I able to time travel and redirect part of my 2015 trip to Miyagikyo Distillery, I'd be happy to get the Malty and Soft. But I wouldn't change one moment of that voyage, and I don't have a time machine, yet. So it was great to have this opportunity to try these Key Malts.

RATINGS:

Miyagikyo Malty and Soft - 87 

Miyagikyo Fruity and Rich - 83

Miyagikyo Sherry and Sweet - 81

Notes from a tasting: Shot Bar Zoetrope

There are so many choices at Shot Bar Zoetrope.  So many whiskies one cannot find in the US.  I went to Zoetrope to at least have a glass of Yoichi 20 and the official Hakushu Sherry Cask before I attempted to buy either.  That idea was formed before I got to Japan and discovered that those whiskies were no longer found in stores.

The first thing I discovered was that Zoetrope was out of Yoichi 20.  Then, later in my tasting session, Horigami-san actually encouraged me to steer clear of the Hakushu Sherry Cask and try something bolder and better.  So with my original plan shelved and the late night adrenaline wearing off, I stared at the detailed menu.  I was overwhelmed by the Venture Whisky options and didn't have internet access to get some reference (though I probably could have just asked Horigami-san for suggestions).

Again, so many choices.  I knew how much I enjoyed Nikka's single malts (and their From the Barrel blend), so I decided to go for something I hadn't had yet.  How about a sherried Yoichi?  Nikka has a series called "Key Malts" that they sell at their distilleries and pour at their bars.  These bottlings let the drinker see what goes into their blends and vattings, and let adventurous folks try out their own mixes.  Two very good bits of news about the Key Malts is that they have age statements (12 years) and are bottled at 55%abv.  Let's see Suntory compete with that.

Yoichi 12 year old Sherry & Sweet (Key Malt), 55%abv
Nose - First whiff: rubber and burning carpet, surprisingly raw.  But after a couple minutes, it picks up beefy and nutty notes from its casks.  It opens up fully at twenty minutes with loads of toffee, chocolate, and marzipan.
Palate - Sweet indeed, but also very salty.  Yoichi tends get salty on my palate, here it intensifies.  Meanwhile, the little peat that shows up reads closer to its mossy form than smoke.  Pepper and soil notes move in after a while and help hold the whole package together.
Finish - So much sherry, as per the name, but also an herbal-liqueur-like bitterness.
Comments - The regular (or former regular) range's 45%abv bottlings have a grace and elegance that this one swaps out for sheer power.  Meanwhile, I'm not sure that much peated malt was involved.  So though it's a big winter malt, it's not as smoky as one may anticipate.
Grade Range: B-/B

While I was sipping the above Yoichi, I decided on comparing it to another one.  I went with a straw-colored 5 year old Genshu Single Cask.  These Genshu single casks used to be sold as exclusives at certain retailers around the country, but I'm not sure that's happening anymore.  One has to go to the Hokkaido distillery to get one now, if they have any in stock.

Yoichi 5 year old Genshu Single Cask, 62%abv
Nose - Not as rough or hot as I'd expected from the age and abv.  Definitely US oak.  Vanilla peat.  But it's the notes of sweetened bean curd and Ceylon cinnamon that are most memorable.
Palate - Little oak here, which lets the malty spirit shine.  Very herbal, like fresh basil and dried oregano.  Light on the peat influence.  Again, almost no ethyl burning.  It's not old whisky, but it could be mistaken for a 10-12 year old from a refill cask.
Finish - A soft wave of peat and caramel.  And, ah yes, here comes the heat.
Comments - Not terribly complex, but still very good for a 5 year old whisky. I wish there was an easier way to obtain a bottle.
Grade Range: B

Speaking of young whisky: Ichiro Akuto.  Horigami-san has obtained some of his own exclusive casks from Akuto-san.  I figured I'd go with one of those since I didn't know what I was talking about when it came to Venture Whisky whiskies.  He lined up a few of his exclusives in front of me and, since I like me some Rum cask action, I went with this one.

Ichiro's Malt 2000-2009 for Shot Bar Zoetrope's 3rd Anniversary
Cask #9800, finished in Rum Wood, 60.7%abv
Nose - Dessert whisky!  Brown sugar, molasses, caramel, toffee, and milk chocolate each take turns then come back again for seconds.
Palate - Loads of cinnamon, pepper, and vanilla.  Young, but not rough or sharp.  And not nearly as sweet as the nose lets on.  Some nuts and cocoa powder show up with time.
Finish - Identical to the palate, again not as sweet as one would think.
Comments - While I am so glad that the palate was less sugary than the nose, it is the nose that's the winner here.  And, not so coincidentally, it's where the rum finish sings the loudest.  I would have loved to have seen what this would have been like if it spent 12+ years in its original cask before getting poured into the rum barrel.
Grade Range: B-/B

One of Harold Lloyd's ill-advised but financially-necessary sound films (The Milky Way) was ending and a better silent one (Speedy?) was starting up on the film wall.  This was when I was going to end with Hakushu's Sherry Cask, but Horigami-san said that it would not go well with what I'd been trying.  And then he added that this one, the first malt's mate and at half the price of the Hakushu, was better anyway.

Miyagikyo 12 year old Sherry & Sweet (Key Malt), 55%abv
Nose - Roast beef, cherries, and roses.  Those exact three things, over and over again.  Then, after twenty minutes it shifts towards black pepper, seaweed, and a hint of wood smoke.
Palate - Very reminiscent of Glendronach's single oloroso casks.  So rich, grapey, and chocolatey, without losing its maltiness.  But this one here brings in a bright mint leaf note to keep it unique.
Finish - Sticky sweet and endless. Mostly sherry but some nice malt lingers behind along with orange peel.
Comments - My god, how sopping wet are these sherry casks before they're filled?  I'm serious, every sherried Japanese whisky I had on this trip was enormous.  Yet not out of balance.  This Miyagikyo got better as it went along, thus it was the finish that won me over, leaving it as my favorite whisky of the night.  A great recommendation by the boss.
Grade Range: B+

And on that high note, I thought it best to depart.  I was beginning to zone out (thus the grade ranges rather than number grades), already planning how I'd get back to the hotel, hoping I wouldn't get lost in Shinjuku.  Not this time, at least.  It had been a long travel day and there was more travel to follow in the morning.

If (or when) I return to Zoetrope, I would drift further from my comfort zone, going with a couple Mars malts, a Chichibu, and one of Kirin's Fujis.  I absolutely recommend Zoetrope as a stop to make if you (a whisky fan) are in Tokyo.  Don't go there looking for Scotch.  There's plenty of that elsewhere.  Go there looking for Japanese whisky.  You'll find some.