Every Nikka sits over its room, the Coffey Malt most

Five Nikkas on the shelf, a range median of $100, and on their shelf tickets all five read over the company the model rates closest to them. The spread runs from a fifth over to not far short of double. Where you land on that spread is really a question of which Nikka you are after, because the whisky is good across the board; it is the distance from the neighbourhood that varies.

The widest is the Coffey Malt at $142, a bit over seventy per cent above the $83 its neighbours ask. It is a lovely, unusual dram, a malt run through a continuous Coffey still so it drinks closer to a rich grain: sweet and crisp, nutty, ripe banana and peach over cream. The novelty is real and so is the premium. Of the five, this is the one asking most over its room, and the pleasure in the glass is doing a lot of work to justify it.

The narrowest, and the one I would actually reach for, is From the Barrel at $77, a fifth over its $64 room. It is a 500mL bottle and a cult favourite for good reason: soft and sweet, butterscotch and orange peel, a dried, almost tobacco note underneath, all of it bottled at a punchy strength. Enormous flavour for the outlay, and the closest any Nikka comes to its neighbourhood this week. If you have never tried the range, start here.

Yoichi, the coastal single malt, is $136, a little under half over its $94 room. This is the smoky, maritime one: woodsmoke and sea air, brine, nutmeg and a dried-orange sweetness. It is the most distinctive malt in the set and priced accordingly, a fair way over its company but not wildly so for a single malt of its reputation.

That leaves the two that land almost together. The Coffey Grain at $135 drinks sweet and crisp, nutty with the same banana-and-cream softness as its malt sibling; the Miyagikyo at $136 is the gentler, fruitier malt, apple and pear and lemon over barley. Both sit a bit under half over their rooms near $92 and $95. Neither is a bargain on its ticket, and neither is a mistake if the style is what you want.

So the shape of it: there is no under-priced Nikka this week, only degrees of premium. For the best whisky per dollar, From the Barrel at $77 is the clear pick, narrowest gap and more flavour than its price has any right to carry. For something you cannot get elsewhere, the Coffey Malt at $142 is genuinely singular, as long as the seventy-per-cent markup over its room does not spoil the first sip. And if you want a single malt with a point of view, Yoichi at $136 earns its coastal smoke. The grains and the Miyagikyo are good whiskies at full prices; buy them for the style, not for the value.

One thing to check at the till. Nikka tickets move around with member pricing more than most, and a couple of these bottles were marked well below their tagged figure this week. The gaps above are measured against the shelf tickets, which is the honest everyday read; if you are a member, the sum in front of you may be kinder.