Miyagikyo Single Malt

Miyagikyo

Origin

Japan

Type

Single Malt Whisky

Barrel

Bourbon and Sherry

Age

No Age Statement

Alcohol

45°

Value

70 points

About the product

Miyagikyo single malts come from a place that Masataka Taketsuru himself considered the ideal place to produce single malt whisky. This valley in Miyagi Prefecture is the location where the Hirosegawa and Nikkagawa rivers meet, two rivers that provide a supply of pure water, the right humidity and fresh air. A lighter, cleaner spirit is produced at Miyagikyo, thanks to the lyne arms at the stills rising. This produces an elegant and fruity style. A combination of lightly-peated and unpeated malt is used.

This Miyagikyo single malt was launched in 2016 as a replacement for the then standard with an age statement. It immediately captured the hearts of tasters everywhere with its elegant and no-nonsense style. The nose immediately sets the tone: full of aroma and rich. Iris flower, malted barley, exotic fruit, liquorice and camphor. Then soft roasted wood and ash and more aromatic elements. White flowers and beeswax play guest roles. The mouth is firm and lively. The base is malted barley, which provides a prime playing field for spices, liquorice, ginger, cinnamon and chocolate. The elegance shows in the middle of the tasting experience, with fresh tobacco leaf and coconut. The finish is long and soft, as if a rose is slowly ageing. Fine tannins balance out the sharp edges in the character (zest) and then the finish extinguishes very slowly with hints of toasted nuts, stewed fruit and a fine tropical fruit (lychee?) as an end note.

About the brand

When Masataka Taketsuru was born in 1894 in Hiroshima, there was no such thing as whisky in Japan. He was born into a family of sake producers and was destined to make it big in that world. He went to Glasgow as a young student in 1918, first to study at Glasgow University and then to do various internships at Scottish distilleries. This included working at Longmorn, Bo'ness and Hazelburn, where he learned the ropes of malt distilling. Meanwhile, he also met Rita Cowan, whom he would marry in 1920. When he returned to Japan, he first joined Kotobukiya Ltd (which would later become Suntory) and helped build the Yamazaki distillery there. In 1934, he left the company to start his own distillery.

Dai Nippon Kaju Co. started in 1934 and Yoichi Distillery began production in 1936. At first, the focus was still on commercialising apple juice, but cloudy apple juice proved a step too far for the Japanese market and soon switched to distillates, first from apple juice and then also malt. The first Nikka Whisky appeared on the market in 1940. In 1969, Nikka built a second distillery, the Miyagikyo Distillery. Now the company could create different types of whisky, both peated and unpeated. Meanwhile, new Coffey stills had also been installed to produce grain whisky, giving them all the ingredients for both single malt whisky and blended whisky.

Miyagikyo distillery is where mostly non-peated single malt whisky is made. You will also find the Coffey stills that distil grain alcohol used not only for house blends like Nikka From The Barrel and Days, but also for interesting products like the Coffey Malt, Coffey Gin and Coffey Vodka.