Nikka Single Malt Miyagikyo Peated Discovery Series Japanese Whisky - 70cl
An act of deliberate, delightful subversion — the Nikka Discovery Series Miyagikyo Peated is a limited edition single malt that sets out to do exactly what its name suggests: challenge everything you thought you knew about Miyagikyo. The Discovery Series was launched in 2021 in anticipation of Nikka Whisky's 90th anniversary, with each release designed to reveal the experimental spirit that has driven Nikka's craft since Masataka Taketsuru founded the company in 1934. The concept is simple and brilliant: take the established house style of each distillery and invert it completely. Yoichi — famous for its smoke — releases an unpeated expression. And Miyagikyo — celebrated precisely for its light, floral, and fruity elegance — releases this: a single malt crafted entirely from heavily peated malts, making it one of the most unexpected and fascinating expressions in the Japanese whisky category.
The result is a whisky that retains all of Miyagikyo's signature character — the distillery's distinctive esteriness, its elegant steam-heated pot still fruitiness, its refined and graceful mouthfeel — while presenting them through the compelling lens of bold peat smoke. Limited to just 20,000 bottles worldwide, non-chill filtered, and bottled at 48% ABV in a gift box. A must for any serious Japanese whisky enthusiast.
TASTING NOTES
NOSE
Elegant and intriguing — toasted bread, dry peat smoke, lemon, apricot, and poached pear with ripe figs, tropical fruit, summer flowers, and a soft ashy smoke that is distinctly Miyagikyo in its refinement — bold yet never aggressive.
PALATE
Smooth and fruity with the peat spreading gradually and beautifully — honey, chocolate, vanilla, black liquorice, red fruits, and exotic iodine and salt notes interweaving with Miyagikyo's signature esteriness in a combination that is wholly surprising and deeply compelling.
FINISH
Long and satisfying with bitter cocoa, ashy peat, and a lingering estery fruitiness — the signature Miyagikyo hint persisting in the aftertaste long after the smoke has faded.
ABV: 48% ABV