The making of a very special whisky and an exclusive peek inside its ageing cellar

WHAT WOULD IT BE LIKE to deliver the full and rich flavours of a whisky that’s normally sniffed and tasted only by blenders? Forty years ago, Nikka Whisky sought to answer that question when it developed an expression named From The Barrel (FTB).

The result is a blend of over 100 different batches of the Japanese company’s whiskies, including malt whisky from its Yoichi distillery and grain whisky from its Miyagikyo distillery. The formula also undergoes a three-month “marriage” process – filled into oak puncheon casks to round off its edges and harmonise its various components.

Full-bodied and powerful, the high-strength (51.4 per cent ABV) spirit – with floral and fruity notes and flavours of toffee, caramel, vanilla, oak, ginger and brown sugar that draw to a long, warm and spicy finish – went on to be well-loved around the world, garnering several awards along the way.

Even FTB’s now-iconic clear glass bottle – square and squat, topped with an aluminium screw cap and finished with a simple, white paper label – is a physical representation of its robustness as “a small block of whisky”.

To mark the blend’s 40th anniversary, Nikka released the limited-edition FTB Extra Marriage – which, as its name suggests, has undergone an additional three-month marriage process. The result is further harmonisation; while this reduces some of the original’s sharpness, it gives the whisky a more refined and richer flavour.

To fully appreciate FTB and explore this elevated special edition, we go behind the scenes in the producer’s Miyagikyo distillery and – in a first for foreign media – access its largest barrel storage site in Tochigi.

Miyagikyo distillery

Nestled in a quiet valley surrounded by forests and streams in Sendai, north-eastern Japan, the Miyagikyo distillery site was approved by Nikka founder Masataka Taketsuru (1894-1979) for the river’s pure, high-quality water. 

This is notable, given that Taketsuru is known as the father of Japanese whisky, having come from a sake-brewing family and, from 1919, learnt whisky production in Scotland’s distilleries.

Miyagikyo is Nikka’s second distillery, and its malt whiskies have a different character from those of Yoichi, its first – located in Hokkaido for the cool climate similar to the Scottish Highlands’. 

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Miyagikyo is also a fulfilment of Taketsuru’s dream of the ideal blended whisky: It is here that Nikka’s grain whiskies are made using traditional Coffey stills – invented in 1830 by Aeneas Coffey to enable continuous distillation.

At the distillery, visitors can join a guided tour to check out the production facilities and participate in a blending experience. Not only did we see pot stills up close, we also got to lay our eyes on the Coffey still imported in 1963 from its now-defunct Scottish manufacturer, Blairs.

The still is marked by decades of use, made all the more obvious by the gleaming, new, Japan-made version standing beside it. It has since been decommissioned, though Nikka continues to operate its other original Coffey still, imported from Scotland in 1966.

At the warehouses, different cask types filled with new-make malt whiskies rest patiently as their precious contents mature. At the cooperage, we were treated to the dramatic sight of casks being charred – the char layer coaxes more flavours out of the whiskies.

The blending class is the highlight. Visitors get to nose and taste five Nikka whiskies and practise blending them before creating their personal favourites to be bottled, labelled and brought home.

Tochigi plant

In Tochigi prefecture, 100 km north of Tokyo, one experiences the relaxed vibes of rural Japan. Picked precisely for its rich, natural environment that’s ideal for maturation, this bucolic setting is home to Nikka’s main storage site – where grain whiskies are aged and blended whiskies undergo re-casking.

The plant in Saotome, Sakura City, sprawls 237,000 square metres (equivalent to five Tokyo Domes). Not open to the public, the 13 buildings can accommodate a total of more than 200,000 barrels.

And how many people run the entire operation? Just 38. In other words, jobseekers unaccustomed to working on a very precise schedule need not apply.

But if you’re on-staff, your workplace is picturesque – lush, forested mountains are the backdrop to Nikka’s brick-coloured buildings and whisky barrel mounds.

Our exclusive media access allowed us to explore the producer’s high- and mid-rise warehouses, re-casking facility and cooperage.

Stepping into one of its ageing cellars, where rows of casks are stacked neatly from floor to ceiling, we are hit by the intensity of the evaporating whisky. It is an intoxicating and aromatic experience, what with the angel’s share mixing with the scent of wood in the moist environment.

40 years of the golden liquid

Having visited Nikka’s distillery and ageing cellars, we develop a greater appreciation for the craft that goes into creating FTB. While the special-edition FTB Extra Marriage has a deeper and richer profile, its bottle design retains the minimalistic vocabulary of the original.

But instead of a paper label, Nikka has opted for a classy silver version printed directly on the glass, the words etched in negative relief.

At the new expression’s unveiling in Tokyo, Naoto Ono, president and chief executive officer of the Asahi-owned Nikka, noted that the group’s spirits business is “tiny” with big potential for growth. “We have the opportunity to produce more, and can be one of the greatest strengths (in the) portfolio.”

FTB Extra Marriage comes as a lone 500 ml bottle (limited to 52,000), or in a three-bottle set (just 5,000 available) with Malt Pieces of the Barrel and Grain Pieces of the Barrel. The assortment is meant to let customers try to “decode” FTB’s formula by learning from the different flavour profiles.

In any event – extra marriage or not – the whisky was always meant to be enjoyed, rather than collected. And we surely can toast to that.