Nikka is back with the second volume of their Discovery Series, this time focusing on yeast, aptly titled "Aromatic Yeast".

As a quick recap, the series was intended to give fans a peek at Nikka's behind-the-scenes experiments and give their distilleries the flexibility to play around with different styles than the usual. Additional Volumes from the Discovery Series are slated for annual release up until 2024 - Nikka's 90th anniversary. In the spirit of “Discovery”, each edition will explore a different aspect of Nikka's whiskymaking.

In 2021, Nikka unveiled the first volume which saw a non-peated Yoichi and a peated Miyagikyo, basically a little switcheroo of peat profiles which was the hallmark of both distillery's single malts.

This time the focus will be on the more innovative use of different strains of yeast - very exciting! This appears to be slated for release in September 2022 according to popular Instagram page Whisuki.

We're told that these expressions will give us a rare inside look into the two distillery's focus on creating distinctive aromas generated by yeast selected from the Nikka's "culture collection". 

As we only have the front and back labels at the moment, what we can tell is that the Yoichi will be bottled at 48% ABV, a touch higher than the first volume which came in at 47% ABV. The back label for the new Yoichi Single Malt tells us that this expression "is partly made from a batch which has an estery aroma somewhat reminiscent of "ginjyo sake", creating a "well-crafted balance between the unique aroma and Yoichi's original smoky and peaty style". 

The new Miyagikyo expression goes in the reverse direction, bottled at 47% ABV, a touch lower than last volume's 48% ABV. The back label tells us the expressions is "partly made from a batch which offers fruity aromas of peach and apricot", creating a whisky that showcases "an exquisite combination of these fresh aromas and Miyagikyo's original comforting, elegant style".

Our Take

We weren't too inspired by Volume 1 of the Discovery Series, which seemed like an unnecessary demonstration in our opinion.

Yet, Volume 2 sounds terribly exciting to us, not because of Nikka's exceptionally generous use of hyperbole, but rather yeast experimentation is something that has quietly become quite the forefront for whiskymaking as of late. The general trend has been to use more efficient, commercial yeast that is able to rack up great mass production yields, but that undermines the big role yeast has to play in creating spectacular flavors. Yield and flavor tends to go in opposite directions, as it would be too good to be true if you could have the best of both worlds.

Typically, efficient yeast strains tend to focus on maximising alcohol production during fermentation, cutting down fermentation times, whereas some varietal of yeasts that are known to create great flavors tend to take longer because they work by creating more esters, ethyls and oils which are responsible for all that flavor. Of course, there has been a perennial search for some golden panacea that does both, but that remains elusive. What's really interesting is that this has led some distilleries to revive heritage or long unused yeast strains, creating new yeast strains or even harvesting wild yeast strains. That sort of experimentation is what creates really exciting flavors and unique expressions that are truly worth trying.

So with all that said, are we eager to try this? You bet. Nikka don't let us down! If this goes well, we're ready to get back on the Nikka express because this is potentially something very unique brought to the table and could yield great results. That said, you can bet it's going to be ridiculously hard to pick one up and secondary prices are going to explode, so we'll probably keep an eye out on bars.

Kanpai!

@111hotpot