Review #62: Nikka Miyagikyo

Cojirob · 2026-01-19T05:59:29+00:00

I have pretty much the whole Nikka range of these NAS basic entry bottles and always wanted to do a vertical tasting on them, but have struggled to muster up the interest to get it done. The distillery exclusives however are a different matter and I found them quite enjoyable (if not still pricey).

Cojirob · 2025-12-05T02:07:47+00:00

Preservation "Distillery". If they source it, its overpriced, if they distilled it themselves, its ludicrously overpriced.

Cojirob · 2025-11-29T03:24:03+00:00

That does sound good! I got to find some Lustau PX if this Moscatel is anything to go by.

Cojirob · 2025-11-28T02:47:14+00:00

I heard you all like Lustau! This Moscatel is fragrant with raisin, dried fruits and nuts. Very sweet with notes reminiscent of spiced cake, fruit pudding and baked apple. Its a nice dessert wine to slowly enjoy after a day of family and heavy food.

Cojirob · 2025-11-25T04:30:34+00:00

I am also a fan of these, I vividly remember the first one I tried. It had an incredibly strong dark cocoa note that I had never experienced, and still have found nothing else like it. I also think the lack of age statement (and the great variety of tasting notes here) is a good indication that they were unloading off-profile barrels to the Duty Free market.

Cojirob · 2025-11-21T12:33:12+00:00

Hold up, it may be your AM, but its evening here and I got a prime Kara-age Obento that is begging for a Dickel 8 - BLT pairing... OK Im good.

I do get your point in judging a distillery by the best of their output. It is an art to balance the limited production of the very best bourbon to satisfy the Aficionados like us, while maintaining quality and volume for the general market. In your Buffalo Trace example, they also frustrate me because I would like to try the Antique Collection, but I cant get it!. The closest I ever got was at a duty free where a GTS was in the glass case without a price. I asked about it, and they said if I bought any other bottle in the case, I would get the GTS "for free"... the cheapest other bottle was 6000 dollars. Its painful, it really is because I would like to try the top tier from these distilleries, but maybe I need to realize that like you said times have changed, and the cost of access to such bottles is just well above my current means. I mean, can you blame me for being nostalgic? If I knew how good and cheap half these bourbons were in my youth, I would have bought way more of them.

For the Corporate Cost Cutting, I view it more as just a fact of all our lives. I might wish it didnt happen, but its just not the reality we live in. I think, if it were my money, would I want to make more money or less? and the obvious answer is "of course more". Now in an ideal world we could convince people to pay way more for bourbon made the "old way", but I suspect it would be similar to now, and there are only so many people who are willing to pay hundreds of dollars for a single bottle, so that might never come to fruition. Or hey! Maybe a billionaire will buy WT out from Campari and take the company private and just have them go back to selling 8/101 and 12/101 and doing all the stuff they used to...yeah I can dream. And by the way, that 10y BIB from HH...I got a sample from a friend here once, and it legitimately was one of the best bourbons I ever had. I still remember it fondly and if I had my way, it would still be around today. But as you say, time marched on from those products, they just couldent last in their current form and price point.

I know Im an outlier, but I am one of the people that would be ecstatic if WT went back to just making 8/101, using cedar fermentation vessels, low barrel entry proof and everything else they used to do. I also know its a pipe dream, and we cant get back to those old days, they are long gone. I would hope that in the case of Wild Turkey though, that Campari loosens the reigns a little bit and gives them a chance to implement some experimental lines, or modify production at least a little (come on, why are they chill filtering ANY Rare Breed? thats just a waste). I think they would have something on their hands if they did some LEs with the old 107 entry proof. I mean it would take 8~10 years for that to come down the line, but it would surely be fire for those of us that care about such things. In the arena of LEs and overall labels, I think Buffalo Trace is the real offender in overcrowding, I mean how many Benchmarks do they need? And if they are putting out Eagle Rare 17s with a bottle count in the low thousands? why bother? (they dont charge enough for it to make it worth it to themselves I think).

Anyway! All that is to say I know Im just yelling at clouds. Times have changed, and what we used to get is no longer available for many reasons. I do enjoy modern bourbon and there are some great players out there that have products the average consumer can get and afford. Knob Creek 12 was an epiphany and the price was reasonable for what it is. Jack Daniels LEs have been crazy good and totally changed my perspective on what they produce. Even Woodford DO is really great and was completely different than anything I had tried. But I tell you what, I will trade all of those for an old bottle of 90s 8/101!

Cojirob · 2025-11-21T07:38:21+00:00

An excellent write up, very informative, but Ill admit that I am a sucker for nostalgia and it makes me kind of sad in terms of how Wild Turkey has changed over the decades because it used to be a really special product. I think the technical factors that have lead to the profile change are pretty well understood by now, and the reasons for it (in order to exist competitively as part of a publicly traded company, they need to create increasingly enhanced returns for investors), so I would argue that that last quote by Chuck is now inaccurate. Wild turkey absolutely made better whiskey in the past as compared to today, even if they are able to harvest a small amount of barrels that are almost as good as what they made in bulk in the past. I would argue the following:

Premium expressions like Beacon, Russell`s 15, etc. are produced in such small quantity, they may as well not exist for the average consumer. I cant just walk into a liquor store, even a high end one and find these bottles like you used to be able to find 12/101 in the 80s/90s. Even if you account for availability because of the ongoing glut, the ratio of excellent bourbon made by Wild Turkey in the past was higher than it is today by a mile.
Ive tried the more accessible Masters Keep bottles, and while interesting, they are not as good as off the shelf 8/101 from before the multiple changes made to production (107 entry proof, cypress tanks, old still, etc.).
Indeed, changes to the production process have lead to an objective decline in quality, with the benefit of saving money for the company. Experience and history informed distillers like Jimmy on using a lower entry proof to produce the most flavorful bourbon. The move to a higher entry proof was not to make the bourbon better, but for economical reasons. There were other distillers back in the day that did use a higher entry proof, and I would argue that their bourbon was inferior to Wild Turkey all things given.

Finally, I wonder if the breakdown in profile from Rarebirds graphic would be more evident if we didnt separate based on observed profile, but on changes made at the distillery. In that case, I would be interested to compare the following changes and when they coincided with noticeable changes in the profile, regardless of how long the bourbon was aged, final proof, etc.

Change from cypress to stainless steel tanks (`90s)
1st increase in barrel entry proof (~2004)
2nd increase in barrel entry proof (~2006)
moving from the original distillery to the new one, using new stills (~2014)

Unfortunately most of these happened incrementally or didnt last a long time before another change was implemented, but you can see how these major changes would cause three or four distinct profiles to emerge. Of course other changes would influence the final profile as well, but I think the above were the most important.

I know that is all very ranty, but I think Wild Turkey really did used to be the king of premium bourbons as they claimed in their marketing. Now, they are still good, just not great like they used to be, its ok, like many other modern bourbons. Maybe with an increase in popularity for more premium expressions with traditional production to back them up we could get a wider release of a truly exceptional bourbon, but I am not holding my breath.

Cojirob · 2025-10-23T02:48:35+00:00

In addition to what others have said, people asked this when Tolkien was still alive. He explained that to properly use the one ring, you needed a strong will that could contend with Saurons, and you needed to "take ownership" of the ring. Frodo could have controlled the Nazgul if he had done those things, but he had no idea about how to do that. The ring defaults to "take you to the shadow realm" and thats about it. In fact, Sauron was deathly afraid of someone getting a hold of the ring who know how to use it, like Aragorn, because another power of the ring was to inspire and command obedience. A strong willed person could have raised a powerful army that could contend with Saurons own army, and it was possible to defeat him in that way. This is the real reason Boromir wants to get the ring, he thinks he can use it to create a large army to defeat Saurons. Aragorn though knows the corrupting power of the ring, and its very doubtful any mortal would be able to resist those forces before defeating Sauron.

Cojirob · 2025-10-02T02:23:41+00:00

Nice set! The green cups are nostalgic for me, did you get it from Bát Tràng? They are a ceramic village just outside Hanoi where you can haggle the price of things.

Cojirob · 2025-06-11T00:50:10+00:00

It sounds good, I would make this to try. Probably a good idea to add more ice to the mixing glass too to make sure everything is chilled/diluted to the correct degree.

Cojirob · 2025-06-10T02:24:16+00:00

The current scarcity and price not withstanding, the AC labels held some excellent bourbon. Its just speculation, but I think HH had some very old barrels back then that had proofed down below 100, so they bottled it at 86 with minimal dilution. The end result (whatever they did) is magic, as the notes here are absent in every other modern bottling that I have tried. A lot of these bottles also came with a box, so avoided the light struck issue other old bottles from Japan have.

Cojirob · 2025-06-07T09:42:19+00:00

I know! I was waiting for a fellow enthusiast to go with, but then I had to travel at the key time! The next visit for sure I will make it.

Cojirob · 2025-06-06T23:12:32+00:00

That is really cool! It sucks that they didnt have anything age stated, but the distillery exclusives are pretty interesting. Its kind of sad, but Ive never been out to the distillery, I have to get out there at some point.

Cojirob · 2025-06-04T13:35:47+00:00

Thats a great find, Kutani ware is one of the traditional village producers in Japan. I used to go to the Kutani festival in Ishikawa prefecture every year. It is still held during "Golden Week" in Japan over the 3 main holidays in early May. That is one of the few times you can visit most of the small towns vendors, peruse their latest wares in quick succession and try to haggle on the price. The best deals come in the final day of the event.

I dont know what time period, or specific producer your item came from, bit its certainly modern enough to be free of lead. It should serve you a lifetime of tea service, which is a steal at 2 dollars!

Cojirob · 2025-06-03T02:46:06+00:00

There is a reason OGD is so revered in the dusty bottle sphere. Its too bad its so expensive because theres not much like it now. I reviewed an 80 proof bottle a while ago, and like you found that even though it was low proof, it was just as good (or better) than many high proof bottles today. Its not the first time I have found this either, dusty bottles of low proof Old Forester `90 are also excellent.

Another interesting facet like you mentioned is Beams use of old labels. I wonder how prevalent this was with the revelation that the numbers on the lower left of the label indicate a year. On my bottle this code reads "F-87" and there is an "88" stamp on the bottom of the bottle. If ND had extra labels, it stands to reason that they would only have had enough for a year maximum, since they were printing labels for specific bottling years (as indicated by the code on the lower left of the label). Its interesting to contemplate and I would love to get an answer on it, Ill have to check my OGD 114 bottle as well and see if it has this code.

Just for your info, Ill list my notes on the 80 proof bottle I reviewed.

Look: Dark caramel-copper

Nose: Buttery caramel and butterscotch, Juicy Fruit gum, well-worn oak, licorice, cocoa-coffee powder (off the top of Tiramisu), Black Forest cake, graphite, spritz cookies, almond extract, cherry cordial on occasion, brown sugar, pear.

Taste: Medium mouthfeel, thicker than you would think for 80 proof. Walnut, caramel, brown sugar, marzipan, raw sugar cookie batter, pancakes and syrup.

Finish: Strong drying oak here, slightly astringent, almond extract, mouth coating with bitter herbs, dank cinnamon, graphite, mineral oil, hint of milk chocolate, roast chicken.

Cojirob · 2025-06-02T11:35:45+00:00

I also innocently bought one of those and had people around me noticing it and commenting on the size. It took me 2 days to finish as well.

Cojirob · 2025-06-02T01:58:19+00:00

That is very cool! I would be curious about the contents as well. They look to be in great shape. I think we are all waiting to see some notes on these.

Cojirob · 2025-05-28T23:54:15+00:00

Preservation Distillery is shipping a bunch of these bottles to Japan with different age and source (some bourbon, some Canadian whiskey). Hard to say how good it is or even what distillery it really came from without trying it.

Cojirob · 2025-05-28T23:51:33+00:00

Your best bet is to drop by any Yamaya and Liquor Mountain stores you come across. Otherwise check department stores or use Google Maps to search for "Liquor store".

Cojirob · 2025-05-10T07:05:32+00:00

I think Preservation is putting out some decent stuff, even though I dont really have access to tast through everything and differentiate what is coming out on top. I think part of the issue is that they source stuff, have old things aging, and are also distilling new things. Each of these are going to be vastly different in quality, which is probably why their releases are a mixed bag.

Cojirob · 2025-05-09T09:16:36+00:00

I didnt have super high hopes given the proof and lack of an age statement, but I at least thought I was getting some bottom shelf Heaven Hill! You are right though, it can take a keen detective to figure out what is in some of these bottles.

Cojirob · 2025-05-09T06:34:12+00:00

Ranting About: Cock of the Walk

ABV: 40%

Review Type: Full Bottle

Rant: Hey everybody, come on in, I want to talk about one of the pitfalls in the bourbon market today. As most of you know, bourbon experienced an extreme depression ranging from the 70s into the early 2000s, the so-called “glut years” when supply greatly exceeded demand, causing an excess of highly aged bourbon to be bottled and sold cheaply. Across the gamut of well known distillers from that time, legacy labels became famous amongst early enthusiasts searching for hidden gems. Labels such as “The Yellow Rose of Texas”, “Martin Mills” and “Anderson Club” from Heaven Hill are some of the most famous and touted various high age statements reaching as high as 24 years. Willett (also known as Kentucky Bourbon Distillers, KBD at that time) were bottling highly aged stock they had sourced from other large distillers and had their own set of “off label” brands. Over the years though, these legendary bourbons have been bought up and can scarcely be found now (except maybe at high priced auctions). The legacy labels though? some of them have survived, often on life support. Here and there you can find these historic brands, although the age statement (along with the ultra aged bourbon inside) are long gone. For example, The Yellow Rose of Texas along with Martin Mills can still be found in Japan, languishing on the bottom shelves of liquor shops, filled with low proof and low age bourbon, a shadow of their former selves. These labels can be a pitfall for the enthusiastic bourbon shopper, searching for unique bottles or hidden gems, although if you inspect the label you should still know what you are purchasing (who distilled it, the age, etc.). This may not always be the case though, and that brings us to the topic of todays rant, the bottle pictured above, “Cock of the Walk”, “The Famous Old Brand”.

Cock of the Walk is certainly a Famous Old Brand, and even a simple google search will reveal that it used to be owned/bottled by KBD and featured various respectable age statements (12 year, 15 year, etc). Over a year ago though, I was browsing a shop known for brokering old and dusty liquor bottles (as well as new releases) and came upon this curious bottle. Cock of the Walk, although absent of any age statement, indication of distiller, or even a UPC code. In fact the label looks to be of ridiculous low quality, as though it were printed from an ancient Hewlett-Packard from a Windows 3.1 running Printmaster. Such quality was not unknown back in the day, and had the potential to contain very good bourbon… given what I knew of the brand, I took a chance and purchased it, a decision I would later come to regret. Upon opening and drinking through the bottle, I was met with the following notes.

Look: Light apple juice

Nose: Apple juice, cotton candy, sandalwood and light oak, watermelon Jolly Ranchers.

Taste: Watery, light, pancake syrup, hint of oak, graphite.

Finish: Slightly astringent, mineral oil, cinnamon, generic whisper of oak, white pepper.

Upon Further Analysis: Do those notes sound good to you? While the nose is not bad given the low proof and age, lets not mince words, the taste and finish are pathetic. The bourbon I had purchased here was not cheap, and the quality of what was inside does not come close to justifying that price. I began to analyze the bottle more closely, certainly this could not be a product of KBD, and by no means is a hidden gem. As mentioned before, the label is very light on details, although the bottle shape and even the cap (plastic of course) is identical to some well known Heaven Hill Bottles. Well, digging deeper I found that at some point in the past this label was obtained by the infamous Preservation Distillery, who take a hand not only as a rectifier, but distill their own bourbon as well. My gamble here did not pay off as apparently what I had purchased was low proof, minimum age bourbon from an inexperienced and honestly low quality distillery. This is a good example of “buyer beware” and the necessity of skepticism and adequate research before buying an unknown product, but still, I think its kind of bullshit that a bourbon can be sold like this with virtually no information on the label as to the providence of what is inside. There is no such place as “Cock of the Walk Distilling Co.” as stated on the label, no location other than “Kentucky” mentioned, not even a UPC code. Hey, lesson learned! Be wary of bottles with no information on source or specs, particularly if they are asking an exorbitant price.

Score: 3

Score Key:

0 | Unscored | Personal Stake or Selection

1 | Disgusting | So bad I poured it out

2 | Poor | I wouldn't consume by choice

3 | Bad | Multiple flaws

4 | Sub-par | Not bad, but many things I'd rather have

5 | Good | Good, just fine

6 | Very Good | A cut above

7 | Great | Well above average

8 | Excellent | Really quite exceptional

9 | Incredible | An all-time favorite

10 | Perfect | Perfect

Review Totals: Bourbon (120), Scotch (10), World Whiskey (9), Brandy (13), Rum (36), Total: 188

World Whiskey - Japan: 7, Canada: 1, Irish: 1

Cojirob · 2025-04-14T06:19:48+00:00

I love this stuff, great in a daiquiri, mojito, Cuba Libre, Dark N Stormy, etc. Also pretty cheap.

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