Nikka Coffey Grain

Beautiful gold in colour. The bouquet is fresh and seductive at the same time, he reveals sweet notes of ripe pear, cherry juice and exotic fruits. Citrus, blood oranges and lemon, appear to make room for subtle floral notes, flower apple and cherry trees. On opening it becomes greedy and pastry on the coconut, vanilla bourbon and chouquettes filled with whipped cream. Underlying fine touches of mint and a hint of musk. The palate is juicy and delicious at will, it lives up to the nose. A medley of ripe fruit accented by notes of free rum (banana) and caramel. It becomes more complex on the zan, licorice and star anise. The mid-palate is fruity, dominated by pear nectar and quickly turn it over to the creamier flavors without ever dwell. The freshness is omnipresent. The finish grows on pear and vanilla bourbon before passing on a beautiful and slightly bitter.

Masataka Taketsuru, seen as the father of Japanese whisky, was born in 1894 into a family that had been sake producers since 1733. After training as a chemist, he was hired by an Osaka-based company, Settsu Shuzo, which was planning to produce a Japanese whisky. The young Taketsuru was therefore sent to Scotland in 1919 in order to acquire the necessary technical knowledge and a minimum of experience. He studied at Glasgow University, also learning about the art of blending and distilling. He quickly became passionate about this Celtic spirit, and decided to devote his life to it. His dream was to create a malt distillery in Japan. When he returned to Japan in 1920, he realised that the project for which he had been recruited was not going to see the light of day. And, following the 1922 stock market crash, he lost his job. A year later, he joined the Kotobukiya group, for which he built a distillery close to Kyoto. This is how he became the father of the very first Japanese whisky in 1924.