Japanese Whiskey Recommendation

@Nock, NOT Nikka Coffey Grain Whiskey, I like that one!

That Yama 12 is hella cheap at that price and very good. Plus the aged stuff is getting harder and harder to come by ... that’d be my shout.

The Yamazaki 12 but, NFTB because you seem to prefer the higher ABV whiskies. The NFTB is 51.4%. @Nock is the NFTB a 750ml version which is only available in the USA? The standard 500ml version in western Canada goes for around $65 -75 Canadian dollars.

Ditto pick on the Yamazaki 12yo. Have not encountered a bottle for sale in the numerous shops I visit for couple of years now. A pleasant whisky.

@Nock, you surprise me, mostly because you are limiting yourself to one bottle.

Knowing your taste very well I don't think that any of those whiskies are going to WOW you.

My best bet as to what you'd like best off of that list? Nikka From The Barrel. If I were choosing one only for myself it would be either Yamazaki 12 yo (which I already own) or Nikka From the Barrel (which I have tasted, like, and is one of the very few bottles I do not own which I would like to own). Yamazaki 12 has more complexity I would say, but Nikka From The Barrel has more oomph. Power over complexity for you. Still, my bet is that you will try it and say, " This is just OK" in either case. Maybe "slightly more than OK" in the case of Nikka From the Barrel. Recall that on Whisky Advocate's Top 20 Affordable and Available Whiskies of 2018 List that Nikka From the Barrel was rated # 1 among the 20 recommended.

You will probably think several of those on the list to be less than OK for you. Toki I like, but it is way too light for you, I expect.

My advice: IF you are buying a bottle from that list, get the Nikka From the Barrel. As your friend who knows you well my best possible advice to you is to try them all before purchase. You might very well not buy any of them, knowing you.

Thank you all for your responses!

@paddockjudge. Hilarious my friend! Fantastic news! I won’t buy that one.

@conorrob That was my thought as well. It seems to be going for much higher prices elsewhere. I have passed on it back when it was in the $60 . . . I also passed on the $18yo when it was around $100. I kick myself about that decision now. It makes me wonder if I will regret my decision to pass on the 12yo also.

@fiddich1980 I appreciate that you have read enough of my opinions to know that I like the high ABV. Thank you. It looks to be the 750mL USA only bottle. So far that bottle is not on shelves but “coming soon.” Which means any day now. The Yamazaki 12yo is on the shelves for now. Thanks for the price information. It looks like $79.99 USA is in the range for a 750mL.

@cherylnifer Thanks, I agree. Not seeing it on the shelf for years has given me a bit of a fear-of-missing-out. Wondering if I should spring for it while I can.

@Victor As always you know how to speak to my rational side and not my impulsive FOMO side. I am sad that I didn’t pick up that Yamazaki 18yo back in 2010. It was on the shelf and getting rave reviews from people. I guess I am just feeling a bit of that now. There is a part of me that would like to have at least one bottle of Japanese whiskey in my cabinet. When I chat with other whisky newbs that is a question I occasionally get, “have any Japanese Whiskey? I hear it is better than Scotch.” It would be nice to pull out something. I agree that I doubt I will be wowed by any of these bottles available to me. But then I did pick up a Van Winkle 12yo Lot B when I could. And that one has never wowed me. Why? It is a highly desirable bottle by many people. And I feel no shame in having a bottle around. Maybe the Yamazaki 12yo is that bottle I should grab? It sounds like age statements are extremely rare on Japanese Whiskies these days, and not likely to return for several years.

Most of the consensus is that I should go for the Nikka FTB or the Yamazaki 12yo.

We will see.

I will be sure to report back in on what happens.

Thanks again sharing your opinions with me. It helps.