What you need to know:

• Nikka appears to be preparing for a 2021 release of a set of limited edition bottlings under the name Nikka Discovery.
• It will consist of a set of single malts, a non-peated Yoichi and a peated Miyagikyo.
• This is ~discovery~ because Yoichi is traditionally muscular bold and peaty, while Miyagikyo is gentle mellow and floral.
• The non-peated Yoichi is set to give us a “delicate balance of bright fruitiness and rich mouthfeel, along with distinctive smokiness generated by coal-fired distillation”.
• While the peated Miyagikyo is expected to give us an “exquisite combination of distinctive peaty notes and boldness, leaving behind and estery hint in the aftertaste”.
• Read more about the distilleries Yoichi and Miyagikyo (shhh they are hyperlinked!)

Nikka is all set to release a new series called “Nikka Discovery”, which hints to us that we’ll probably see some experimentation that we haven’t seen before.

As with all things, variety is the spice of life. And while some distilleries get really fancy with the types of cask they use, ranging from some uniquely seasoned casks like Champagne or Tonic Wine, and even Tabasco, Nikka seems to have kept it simple.

The inaugural set of Nikka Discovery consists of a non-peated Yoichi single malt and a peated Miyagikyo single malt.

This is unique because traditionally Yoichi has been the peated whisky of Nikka, while Miyagikyo was founded later down the road as a gentle and mellow malt that would contrast with Yoichi. This would allow Nikka to expand its repertoire when it came to formulating blends, by giving Nikka a variety of styles to mix and match.

Read more about the two Nikka distilleries here (Yoichi) and here (Miyagikyo).

Now it seems Nikka is switching up the game for us to have a taste of the flip side, with Yoichi non-peated and Miyagikyo peated instead.

According to the labels approved for the bottlings, we can expect the following notes:

Non-Peated Yoichi Single Malt

This expression is made only from non-peated malts and offers a pleasant surprise that overturns the preconceived “peaty” image of Yoichi.

…

Discover its delicate balance of bright fruitiness and rich mouthfeel, along with distinctive smokiness generated by coal-fired distillation.

 

Peated Miyagikyo Single Malt

This expression consists only of peaty batches and offers a pleasant surprise that overturns the preconceived “floral and fruity” image of Miyagikyo.

…

Experience its exquisite combination of distinctive peaty notes and boldness, leaving behind and estery hint in the aftertaste.

Our take 

There sure is a lot of mention of overturning preconceived images and pleasant surprises in this release.

Quite honestly, a preconceived image I would like overturned and be pleasantly surprised by is if for once us everyday folks can get our hands on these limited edition bottlings without mortgaging our house!

Jokes aside, it definitely does sound interesting even though it’s just a simple switcheroo, simply because Nikka is so darn purist about their whiskies and have for a long time set in stone the flavors of the two malts. Yoichi is the muscular bold peaty one while Miyagikyo is the gentle floral mellow one. 

There is also no mention of the age so I assume these will be NAS releases, the Yoichi bottled at 47% abv while the Miyagikyo is bottled a touch higher at 48%.

But all in good order, we’ll certainly look forward to them! 

Kanpai!

@111hotpot