Whisky : Nikka Black; Night Cruise (2019 Limited Edition)

Country/Region : Japan/Blend

ABV : 45%

Cask : Various

Tasting : Neat in a Glencairn @ HWG Series #3

Nose :  Salty with a bit of funk and a dash of spice.  Lovely salty cheese rind and grilled prawns highlight the coastal, funky, salty essence.  A bit of ginger snap cookies give a bit of bite and sweet spice along with a hint of cardamom.  Some musty white grape skins and a note that strikes me as hot leather car seat round out the nose.

Palate : A roasting tray sits in the oven— fennel, stone fruits, carrots— there are sweet and faintly licorice notes caramelizing under high heat.  Medium bodied, the dram has just enough viscosity to coat the palate with a wisp of smoke and some tingling cinnamon ginger spice.  Intriguing bits of sweet almost earthy sesame come near the end.

Finish : Medium to short finish of sweet spices and honey.

Score : 5

Mental Image : A sad empty plate of white seafood beehoon, only the memory remains.

Something Better : Arran Smuggler Series (better use of visuals/flavors to tell a story)

Something Similar : Kilchoman Machir Bay (similar roasting vegetables/herbs, more smoke/peat influence)

Something Worse : Nikka Black 2018 LEs (sweeter, less complex, less savory)

Notes :  Pirates?  Smugglers?  Lovers?  A three hour tour?  Who exactly is going on the ‘night cruise?’

The imagery on the label gives the impression of a voyage during the Age of Sail— also a time period when much of Japan was closed off to foreign access due to the “chained/closed country” or Sakoku policy.  Despite the Edict of 1635 and other similar laws intended to curb foreign influence during the Tokugawa Shogunate the edges of Japan were difficult to control in an absolute sense.  Hokkaido and Kyushu in particular chaffed under the administration of the distant Shogun and were more willing to entertain occasional illicit visits by smugglers, pirates, or merchants.  Or, perhaps it is an homage to smuggling and excise evasion among the Hebrides or maybe the Golden Age of Piracy in the Atlantic.  The bottle does not really provide a whole lot of clues— but I love the idea of taking an episode or image from history and creating a whisky that in some way embodies or relates that history.  I think Arran did a wonderful job doing this with its Smuggler Trilogy, but I am not sure what Nikka was going for here— or if there was a much deeper intentionality here besides it is a dram with lovely coastal influence and the lineup it will be part of is the Black line, BOOM, Night Cruise.

This is a huge step up from the 2018 Limited Edition Nikka Blacks.  I did not care at all for the Nikka Black Extra Sweet or Extra Sherry.  The profile of this was of course more in line with what I usually like— but the quality of the mouthfeel and the complexity of the flavor profile were just far above the previous two entries to the series.  While the Extra Sweet and Sherry seemed crafted to fit nicely into a cocktail, Night Cruise seemed more versatile and much more pleasant to drink straight up.