Nikka Coffey Grain Whisky was first released in 2012 to showcase the beauty of traditional Coffey stills that, although not easy to operate, retain flavours originating from ingredients and deliver a distinctive creamy texture . The whisky is matured in old casks such as re-filled, remade and re-charred casks originally made from American oak to deliver the sweet and mellow flavours of Coffey distillates.
Nikka's founder, Masataka Taketsuru, was staying in Scotland in 1919 when he had the opportunity to learn how to distill grain whisky in a Coffey still first-hand from Scotch craftsmen. Masataka was the first Japanese person who mastered whisky-making in Scotland and brought this expertise back to Japan, importing the first Coffey still from Scotland to Japan in 1963 after founding Nikka in 1940.