Nikka Coffey Grain Whisky

Mar 29

No, not coffee - Coffey! As in Aeneas Coffey, an Irishman who is credited with patenting the first continuous still in 1830.

Here’s the thing: pot stills are traditional for distillation, but are notoriously inefficient. Even the largest pot still has to be emptied, cleaned, and re-fired between whisky batches. They require direct fire heating and a lot of maintenance. Pot stills do impart a unique flavor profile to whiskey - just take a look at Redbreast or the Spot Whiskies if you need proof (well, if you need proof, try the cask strength).

A continuous still, on the other hand, can be used 24/7, requires much less maintenance, and can distill to a higher proof (up to 95.57% ABV, the physical limit to which alcohol can be naturally distilled). Without column stills, there’s no Everclear and no industrial alcohol production. Modern continuous stills can be run without stop for months on end.

The Coffey Still is the in-between step. It’s a two-column still that is basically two pot stills paired together, one for basic distillation and one for more concentrated distillation. Metal plates are inserted horizontally throughout the column, with water vapor steaming through and alcohol and other vapors condensing onto the plates to become spirits.

There’s just one problem: it still wasn’t very efficient. While the Coffey Still could produce objectively more alcohol than the pot still and was a considerable upgrade, it required a constant, stable heat, something that wouldn’t come around until steam technology caught up a few decades later. Otherwise, the still required constant attention to keep the temperature stable. Imagine a hot air balloon that is constantly having its flame turned up and down - it’s not going to fly evenly, is it? Also, Coffey might have patented it but he didn’t create it in a vacuum. He built on the work of several German, French, English, Scottish, and Irish chemists, engineers, and distillers, all of whose work he would have become familiar with as…wait for it…an excise tax collector for a quarter-century.

Fast forward a century or so. Masataka Taketsuru, the father of Japanese whisky, is studying in Scotland where the Coffey Still took off (ironically, Ireland largely rejected it in favor of keeping the pot still tradition). It would take him a few decades more to bring the technology to Japan, but he finally did, importing one in 1963 and a second in 1966 to Nikka’s Yoichi Distillery, where both are still in use today.

Nikka, of course, doesn’t just use the two Coffey stills - they have plenty of column and pot stills to get the varieties of whisky they need. But, for this release in 2012 (and the subsequent Coffey Malt release in 2013), the Coffey stills were re-fired.

The result is something truly unique: a mostly corn whisky, made on an Irishman’s patent improved upon by the Scots and imported by the Japanese. A velvety mouthfeel that carries chocolate banana bread notes makes the whole thing just fantastic. I really love this whisky, and it feels like I’m experiencing this long history when I drink it. Kampai!

Side note: As of 2021, Nikka Coffey Grain still qualifies as Japanese Whisky as defined recently by the Japan Spirits & Liqueur Maker’s Association.

Nikka Coffey Grain: Specs

Classification: Japanese Grain Whisky

Origin: Nikka’s Yoichi Distillery

Mashbill: Undisclosed, Majority Corn

Proof: 90 (45% ABV)

Age: NAS

Location: Japan

Nikka Coffey Grain Price: $60

Official Website

Nikka Coffey Grain Whisky Review: Tasting Notes

Eye: Yellow gold. Thin rims and droplet legs.

Nose: Chocolate banana bread. Sweet and chocolate heavy, like walking into a bakery.

Palate: Caramel flan, still some banana bread sweetness and body. Fruits diversify into apples, apricots, and various dried fruits. Drying heat builds slowly and deliciously. Mouthfeel is coating, medium-bodied, and drying.

Finish: Astringent, hotter than the palate, with fruits ending quickly. An odd finish, like a flambé that flares up then dissipates.

Overall: Delicious. I wish the finish was a bit more mellowed and the fruits lingered longer, but otherwise the chocolate banana bread was a great surprise and the mouthfeel is fantastic.

Final Rating: 8.1

10 | Insurpassable | Nothing Else Comes Close (Blanton’s Straight from the Barrel)

9 | Incredible | Extraordinary (GTS, Elijah Craig Barrel Proof B518 and B520)

8 | Excellent | Exceptional (12+YO MGP Bourbon, Highland Park Single Barrels)

7 | Great | Well above average (Blanton’s Original, Old Weller Antique, Booker’s)

6 | Very Good | Better than average (Four Roses Small Batch Select, Knob Creek 14+ YO Picks)

5 | Good | Good, solid, ordinary (Elijah Craig Small Batch, Buffalo Trace, Old Grand-Dad Bottled-in-Bond)

4 | Sub-par | Many things I’d rather have (A.D. Laws Four Grain, Compass Box “Oak Cross”)

3 | Bad | Flawed (Iron Smoke Bourbon, Balcones)

2 | Poor | Forced myself to drink it (Buckshee Bourbon and Rye)

1 | Disgusting | Drain pour (Virginia Distilling Co. Cider Cask)