NIKKA DISTILLERY EXCLUSIVES

For this months's tasting, we sampled almost all of the current Distillery Exclusives from both Yoichi and Miyagikyo.

* FLIGHT ONE *

Expression 1
 Miyagikyo Sherry Cask 2015 
 

The Miyagikyo Sherry
Cask 2015 was
the odds on favorite
to be best in show -
and it was!

Background: Okay, not a distillery exclusive, but an extremely limited special edition. (The Yoichi Heavily Peated came out at the same time.)  This was released right around the time that Yamazaki Sherry Cask 2013 won Jim Murray's Whisky of the Year and set off the current Japanese whisky craze.  

Stats: Limited to 3000 Bottles.  Aged in Spanish Sherry Casks.  ABV = 48%

Tasting Notes: With the high ABV of all the whiskies we were drinking today, it was prudent to have a warm up to get the taste buds acclimated.  Our "opener" was the current Miyagikyo Single Malt NAS @ 45% ABV.  And it helped immensely.  I've had the excellent Sherry Cask 2015 before, but this time, it was transcendent.  Perhaps a little air in the bottle helped? Incredibly well balanced and complex.  This beauty is definitely not a one note sherry bomb like the Yamazaki Sherry Cask 2016.  Exceptional.

Worth Drinking Again?	Worth Buying a Pour?	Worth Buying a Bottle?
YES	YES	YES

Expression 2
 Miyagikyo Sherry + Sweet 

Background:  
When this line of Distillery Exclusives was originally rolled out, they were all 12 Year Age Statements.  A few years back, new packaging was introduced as well as converting to No Age Statement along with all of Nikka's single malts.

Stats: ABV = 55%.  Bottled 2016.
 

Tasting Notes: Prefer the nose on this one - definitely punchier as expected with the higher ABV.  But the taste isn't as complex as the 2015 - more of a one note sherry bomb, plus a short finish.  Still, it's Miyagikyo Sherry - I wouldn't slam the door in its face should it come calling in the middle of the night.

Worth Drinking Again?	Worth Buying a Dram?	Worth Buying a Bottle?
YES	YES	YES

Expression 3
 Yoichi Sherry + Sweet 

Background: All of the Distillery Exclusives have unique names for each distillery - except this one.  Sherry + Sweet expressions exist at both Miyagikyo and Yoichi.  You really have to pay attention as to which is which since the design is so similar.

Stats: ABV = 55%. Bottled 2017. 
 

Tasting Notes: Nose leans toward expected Yoichi coastal, peaty notes.  A meatier, buttery taste as well compared to its counterpart, along with salty and light peat notes.  Finish is more on the chocolate-y side.  Nice range overall.  This one should be called Sherry + Salty + Sweet.

Worth Drinking Again?	Worth Buying a Dram?	Worth Buying a Bottle?
YES	YES	YES

Expression 4
 Yoichi 2000's 


 

Background: Comprised of single malt whisky distilled anywhere between 2000 and 2009.  Miyagikyo also has a 2000's expression, but that was one of two Distillery Exclusives that were not part of this tasting.  (The other being Nikka Coffey Grain Woody + Mellow.) Similar 1980's and 1990's expressions exist as well, but those are long gone from the Distillery Gift Shops.

Stats: ABV = 57%. Bottled 2017. 
 

Tasting Notes: Spicy nose.  Not as peaty as expected.  Caramel dominates taste and finish.  Adding some water produced a better range, spreading out the dense flavors, and making it more enjoyable.

Worth Drinking Again?	Worth Buying a Dram?	Worth Buying a Bottle?
YES	YES	NO

* FLIGHT TWO *

Expression 1
 Miyagikyo Fruity + Rich 

Background: Nikka Distillery Exclusives are only available at their respective gift shops.  Yoichi expressions only at Yoichi.  Same for Miyagikyo.  The aforementioned Nikka Coffey Malt Woody + Mellow is the only exception - it can be purchased at either. So you'd have to go to both distilleries to get them all.  No easy task.  All are bottled at 180ml and 500ml.

Stats: ABV = 55%. Bottled 2016 
 

Tasting Notes: Aptly named with its big fruity nose.  Taste is apricot malty finished in powder sugar on a glazed donut.  Not a huge range, but very nice indeed.

Worth Drinking Again?	Worth Buying a Dram?	Worth Buying a Bottle?
YES	YES	NO

Expression 2
 Yoichi Woody + Vanillic 

Background: Yoichi was the first Nikka distillery, founded in 1934 by Masataka Taketsuru.  Prior to that, he was one of the two men behind the first Japanese Whisky Distillery, Yamazaki.

Stats: ABV = 55 %. Bottled 2017
 

Tasting Notes: Hello Japanese Bourbon! Could each of these "x + y" expressions just be the 3 components for their respective core range of distillery single malts? Sherry, Bourbon, and some sort of Puncheon or Hogshead?  This one would be the Bourbon Barrel, if you couldn't tell. Big time Bourbon nose and that smooth, sweet taste.

Worth Drinking Again?	Worth Buying a Dram?	Worth Buying a Bottle?
YES	YES	NO

Expression 3
 Miyagikyo Malty + Soft  

Background: While Suntory can claim the first single malt distillery in Japan, Nikka can boast they had their second before their rival did. Miyagikyo, built in 1969, pre-dates Suntory's second distillery, Hakushu, by 4 years.  The whiskies of Yoichi tend to compare to Scottish Coastal Highlands, or even Islay, while Miyagikyo's distillate is similar to those of Central Highlands and Speyside.

Stats: ABV = 55%. Bottled 2016.
 

Tasting Notes: Big time marshmallow nose at first, evolving into fruit notes.  Tastes like salty malt balls, i.e. Whoppers, with an interesting pear guava finish.

Worth Drinking Again?	Worth Buying a Dram?	Worth Buying a Bottle?
YES	YES	NO

Expression 4
 Yoichi Peaty + Salty 

Background: Nikka was the first Japanese producer to win a major international award for its whisky.  In 2001, a Yoichi 10 Year Single Cask won Whisky Magazine's Best of the Best category.  

Stats: ABV = 55%. Bottled 2017.
 

Tasting Notes: Medium peat on the nose.  Taste is Peaty & Salty as described - big time!  Briny, with a soft, salty + malty finish.  Might be the best peated Japanese whisky that I've experienced. Recommend going back and forth with this and one of the Sherry expressions.  Outstanding!

Worth Drinking Again?	Worth Buying a Dram?	Worth Buying a Bottle?
YES	YES	YES

[Tasting conducted with the Sneaky Trips Tasting Group which consists of Whisk(e)y Enthusiasts ranging from Beginner to Advanced.  Tastings are held monthly and are usually 8 Expressions based on a particular theme.]

Bottling Dates for Yamazaki, Hibiki, Hakushu

Part 2

In Part 1, general bottle codes were discussed as well as specifics on some distilleries, including Suntory.  These bottle codes are batch numbers that can reveal what year a whisky was bottled. Suntory has only printed/etched codes on their bottles of Yamazaki, Hibiki, and Hakushu since approximately 2006.  So, what about dating bottles before then?

Let’s start with the introduction of the core expressions, charting from when the first Suntory Single Malt was released in 1984 from Yamazaki. 

EXPRESSION	AGE	YEARS AVAILABLE
Yamazaki	NAS	1984 - 1986
Yamazaki	12	1986 - Present
Hibiki	NAS	1989 - 2000
Yamazaki	18	1992 - Present
Hibiki	21	1994 - Present
Hakushu	12	1994 - Present
Yamazaki	10	1995 - 2012
Hibiki	30	1997 - Present
Yamazaki	25	1998 - Present
Hakushu	10	1998 - 2012
Hibiki	17	2000 - 2018
Hakushu	18	2006 - Present
Hakushu	25	2008 - Present
Hibiki	12	2009 - 2015
Yamazaki	NAS*	2012 - Present
Hakushu	NAS*	2012 - Present
Hibiki Harmony	NAS	2015 - Present

(*Distiller's Reserve)

Most of the information above comes from the Yamazaki Distillery Museum as well as the Timeline on Suntory's website.  We'll have to see if Suntory's May 2018 announcement that Hakushu 12 and Hibiki 17 would be suspended that year until supply catches up with demand holds true.  I suspect those expressions will be out of production, with some stock being held back and distributed sporadically in subsequent years.  This strategy occurred previously when Hibiki 12 was discontinued in 2015, but continued to show up here and there over the next couple years, at least in the United States.  The only difference being that Hibiki 12 has not, and likely will not, return.  [UPDATE: Hakushu 12 officially back in core line-up as of 2021.]

Speaking of Hibiki 17, there are those out there that believe that the original Hibiki No Age Statement (NAS) from 1989 should actually be considered Hibiki 17 and not NAS.  I'll dive into that mess another time.  But for purposes here, my research shows that the first time a 17 Year age statement appeared on a Hibiki bottle was in 2000/2001.  At any rate, in order to break down bottling dates even further, we need to look at the label for certain markers and design changes.

Markers

Tax Classification (1984-1989)

Katakana characters at the
bottom left translate to
"Whisky Special Class" 

Isolating the two 
Katakana characters 
referring to tax code

From the seventies until the end of eighties, there was a requirement for whisky bottles sold in Japan to categorize their contents as either First Class, Second Class, or Special Class.  Essentially, this classification was based on the alcohol content and determined the amount of tax that would be charged.  In the pic to the right, the first 5 Katakana characters are probably familiar – they translate to “whisky” - while the last two designate the Tax Class.  If your bottle has those last two characters, then it was bottled mid-1989 or prior.  If your bottle just has the “whisky” characters and nothing else, then it was bottled after that.  This marker only applies to the first 3 expressions on the chart above.

Corporate Logo: Lion Crest (1984-1991) vs. Hibiki Crest (1991-2004) 

Lion Crest circa 1989

Hibiki Crest 1991-2004

Suntory’s Lion Crest logo evolved over many years until it appeared as shown on the left in the late 1980s.  The Lion Crest is most useful in determining a first edition Hibiki Whisky.
In 1991, a new corporate identity was adopted, the Hibiki Crest (sometimes referred to as the Flower Crest, among others). And it can be found on bottles until at least 2004. Oddly enough, the Hibiki Crest is not directly related to Hibiki Blended Whisky.  In fact, the logo actually pre-dates Hibiki Whisky by 3 years.  For more on the origins of the Hibiki Crest, click through to this blog.

Malt Designation: Pure Malt (1984-2003) vs. Single Malt (2004-on)

Hakushu Pure Malt 12
(Japan Bottling 1997)

Hakushu Single Malt 12
(US Bottling 2018)

Suntory labeled their single malts from Yamazaki and Hakushu as “Pure Malts” from 1984-2003.  As far as the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) is concerned, a Pure Malt equates to a vatting of single malts from more than one distillery.  Japan has no such regulatory association governing their whisky. And while true Japanese whisky has always sought to emulate the traditional Scotch-making process, they obviously do not have to follow any SWA definitions.

So why didn’t they designate their single malts for what they were?  Marketing and tradition, I suspect.  “Purity” is just a better selling point in Japan.  I’m guessing the reason they changed to labeling them as Single Malts was to finally get more in line with the rest of the world, to improve international sales, and so their whisky could be entered into the correct category in competitions.  Also note that circa 2003, there was a transition period where Yamazaki and Hakushu were classified as both Pure Malt and Single Malt on the same label!

Hakushu Pure/Single Malt 12
(Japanese Bottling 2003)

Bottle Volume: 760ml vs. 750ml vs. 700ml

Japan has utilized a variety of unusual bottle capacities over the years for their core expressions, including 600, 660, 720, 760ml, among others.  When Yamazaki was first introduced in 1984, the bottle contained 760 milliliters and appears to stay that way until approximately 1988, when the standard was updated to 750ml.  I assume the change was implemented so Suntory could export to the US and EU standards.

In 1990, the EU determined their standard bottling would shift from 750ml to 700ml. However, this appears to not have been implemented until 1992. Many assume that Japanese bottlers adjusted at the same time, but that is not the case. (And why would they?  They're not part of the EU.)  This became immediately apparent when I looked at my 750ml Yamazaki Pure Malt 10, a product that didn’t exist until 1995.  At first glance, it appears that Japan switched to primarily 700ml around 1998 with the introduction of Yamazaki 25.

Or did they? I’ve only recently discovered evidence that both 700ml and 750ml bottlings of the same expression existed in Japan in the late 90s to possibly the early-2000s.  Same exact expressions with unique UPC barcodes and different volumes – talk about confusing.  Still researching this head scratcher.  So, unfortunately, there is no definitive marker point for volume change from 750 to 700.

Now, with the information above, we should be able to narrow down some bottling dates within a range of years.  Take the Hakushu 12 Pure Malt above.  That expression was first introduced in 1994.  The Pure Malt designation lasted until 2003. (While the Hibiki logo appears on the bottle, that information is superseded by the Pure Malt information.) But that's still a pretty big range, 1994-2003. It IS 750ml, which leads me to believe that it is a 90s bottling - but, that marker is a little murky as I mentioned.  So how did I confidently claim in the caption that the bottle in question was from 1997?  For that answer, we'll have to scrape the bottom the bottle in Part 3.

Bottling Dates for Yamazaki, Hibiki, Hakushu

Part 1

So, you’ve picked up an older bottle of Hibiki and you want to know what year it’s from, right?  Sure you do, same thing happened to me.

In general, deducing exact bottling dates on any whisky can range from really easy to almost impossible. Usually there exists enough information, though, to narrow down the date within ten years or less.  A few years back, I came across this springboard on The Whisky Jug, and that got me going on bottle codes.

Glenturret 12 Year Single Cask Sherry - Bottled 2017

Bottle Codes

Almost all current whiskies have Bottle Codes (laser codes - etched or printed somewhere on the bottle). This code identifies the Batch and often reveals right then and there what year it was bottled.  Spotting these codes can be challenging at first since their location varies and are often feint.  I recommend looking while outside during the day and possibly using the flashlight on your phone for an assist.

Springbank Local Barley 10 Year

For examples of easily decipherable Bottle Codes, look to the Springbank Distillery.  Since 2014 they’ve been laser printing exactly what the product is and what year and day it was bottled on the side near the base. My Springbank Local Barley 10yr has the following info laser printed right below the back label: “Local Barley, 06.11.17 17/521.”   The first set of numbers translates easily to November 6, 2017 while the second set re-affirms 2017 and includes the batch number after the slash. (Prior to 2014, Springbank utilized that second set, the Year/Batch numbering system, but placed said information on the back of the front label. You’d have to look through the back of the bottle to see something like “13/494” hiding there.)

And speaking of looking through the back of the bottle for a code, check out Macallan - one of the most difficult bottle codes to decipher.  The Macallan started using codes like this, “L0186F L10 08: 42 15:03”, on their inside front labels as far back as 1998.  Good luck with that mess.  However, I’ve read where people have contacted Macallan’s customer service and supplied them with a Batch Code and have actually received the information they requested.  So that’s a possibility.

But we’re here to talk about Suntory. I haven’t bothered their customer service… yet.  I’m not optimistic going that route due to the language barrier – plus, whenever myself or a friend has asked an employee at Yamazaki or Hakushu Distillery about these types of details, they respond as vaguely as possible. Something like "no one kept records of that information." And not trying to knock the very friendly folks at the distilleries – detailed records of whisky bottling history in Japan is just tough to come by.  Historically, whisky was for drinking, not for chronicling for posterity. But we’re in the information age now and we must know everything!

Like when was my original Hibiki No Age Statement bottled?!?

OK, getting to that.  Suntory has been using laser etch Bottle Codes worldwide on Hakushu, Hibiki, and Yamazaki since at least 2006. Most of the bottles I’ve seen contain 5 or 6 characters, but a friend in Japan provided codes that were up to 12 characters. However, the method for identifying the bottling year is the same, regardless.  Here are some examples:

Hibiki 12 Code = U2LOT
(Click to Enlarge)

• Hakushu Owner’s Cask 1992 Cask # 2B 40276 (Japanese Bottling 700ml) Code = K1HKF
• Hibiki 12 (US Bottling 750ml) Code = U2LOT
• Hibiki 17 (Japanese Bottling 50ml) Code = L07ONN
• Hibiki 17 (Japanese Bottling 700ml) Code = LE7LJT002018
• Yamazaki Bourbon Barrel 2013 (European Import Bottling 700ml) Code = X3CJJ
• Yamazaki Distiller’s Reserve (European Bottling 700ml) Code = L46KLL

Can you recognize a pattern in the codes?  The Yamazaki Bourbon Barrel is a big clue – the only number present on the code is a “3”.  We already know that it was bottled in 2013 because it says so on the front label. So, could that “3” indicate 2013 as well?  You bet! Also, I can tell you that the single cask Hakushu was bottled in 2011, again stated on the label. So, the “1” in the bottle code reaffirms 2011.

Basically, you have a series of three letters at the end of the code (or the middle of the code for that 700ml Hibiki 17).  The number before that string of 3 letters represents the last digit in the bottling year.  So, for the Hibiki 12, the “key number” is a “2”, signaling it was bottled in 2012. Why not another year ending in “2”?  Well first of all, these bottle codes didn’t exist in 2002 or 1992, and secondly, Hibiki 12 didn’t exist until 2009!  Plus, I actually remember buying this particular bottle in 2013.  So, it totally tracks.

The key number for both the Hibiki 17 mini and 700ml bottle is a 7.  Again, I know they were purchased new on the shelf in 2017.  But, since bottle coding existed in 2006, how would someone who didn't buy it new on the shelf in 2017 be able to conclude that it was bottled in 2007 vs. 2017?  That's when you would have to also compare the evolution of the packaging.  More on that in the next installment. 

And lastly, the Yamazaki Distiller’s was bottled in 2016 – don’t let the 4 fool you on that one – the key number to look for is the one that precedes the string of 3 letters, in this case a 6.

Hakushu 12 Bottled 2018

Close Up Hakushu 12
w/ Bottle Code LK8ANN

Overall, I’ve looked at close to 100 bottles and they all follow this pattern. Whenever buying a new Yamazaki or Hakushu 12, I’m always checking the code and that key number is always the current or previous year.  I recently bunkered a few Hakushu 12s – the newer ones with boxes – and all of their “key numbers” equal “8”.  If you've got a bottle that doesn't appear to follow the pattern, let me know!

Now, is there a way to approximately date these Suntory bottles prior to the etched bottle codes?  Still  a work in progress, but I believe there is.  And it’s all based on what I learned from the aforementioned bottle codes combined with label and logo changes, plus the information on the bottom of the bottles.  That's what I'll be investigating in Part 2.