26 May 2010

Nikka Pure Malt Black

Posted by: Ruben In: * Japan

Nikka produces three pure or vatted malts (officially “blended malts” now) with colour titles. Nikka Pure Malt Black mainly contains malts from the Yoichi distillery (blended with Scotch malt), Nikka Pure Malt Red is composed around Miyagikyou malt and Nikka Pure Malt White is a blend of Yoichi and Islay malts.

Nikka Pure Malt Black
(43%, OB 2009, 50cl)

Nose: a nice marriage of sweet, fruity notes (peach marmalade, oranges) and dry, earthy notes (peat, faint smoke, oak). Noticeable vanilla. Hints of flowery honey. Mouth: more peat now, even phenolic hints of gouache. Slightly peppery. Ripe fruits and a bit of toffee. Salty hints of liquorice in the very end. Finish: spices, sweet cocoa and smoke.

A good all-rounder with a firm character and balanced peat (I’ve compared Yoichi to Highland Park before…). Around € 30. Good value for money, even with the smaller bottles (50cl).

Score: 82/100

Nikka Pure Malt Black 3 Ruben [WhiskyNotes] 2010-05-26">

Tags: 43%, Japan, Nikka, pure malt, Yoichi

5 Responses to "Nikka Pure Malt Black"

1 | aw

May 26th, 2010 at 10:25

I thought the nose was very impressive, but it was underwhelming on the palate. Maybe an abv of 46% would have helped? For Europe, Nikka is surely a specialist product, so am surprised at abvs of 40 and 43.

BTW: started in on my MoM samples. Glenfarclas 1971 Family Cask – sublime! Octomore Orpheus – nice nose when neat but at 61% I had to add water, after which it nosed and tasted like creosote. Yuck!

May 26th, 2010 at 10:29

Indeed, the palate is where it loses most of its points. On the other hand, as an entry level malt this is very good. Perfect if you’re starting to discover Japanese whisky.

3 | Nikka Pure Malt White | WhiskyNotes

July 2nd, 2011 at 01:59

[...] Pure Malt White is a blend of peated Nikka whisky and Scotch Islay whisky (probably Coal Ila). Nikka Pure Malt Black is also peated but it contains only Nikka [...]

4 | Michel

December 17th, 2011 at 16:34

nice whiskey, nice price

5 | Andrea Franco

January 11th, 2012 at 11:05

Aperto ieri. Mi piace molto, pungente, brusco, finale corto, ma con un ritorno improvviso piuttosto dolce. Unu buon whisky

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