Distillery | Chichibu |
Bottler | OB |
Serie | Ichiro's Malt |
Bottled for | Salut Distribution Netherlands |
Distilled date | NV |
Bottling date | Not Specified |
Country | Japan |
Region | Japan |
Age | |
Cask Type | Wine Wood |
Cask Number | |
Alcohol % | 46.5% |
Volume | 0,70 |
Condition | In original container |
Label | Perfect |
Stock | 0 |
Volume | 0,70 |
Condition | In original container |
Label | Perfect |
Stock | 0 |
Nose: A lot of red wine in the nose – that’s for sure. Spicy too with a certain nutty or marzipan feel to it and even coconut which is a rather unique combination. Licorice and star anise with red berries and crushed pepper
Palate: Hot and spicy on the entry with a nice sweetness, some dried figs and not too much wine over here. And the fruity side shines through. Red berries , chilly.on the second wave the tannins kick in and the grape peel and wine is felt more strongly. Some milk chocolate and cocoa too.
Finish : Pepper and chilly. Red wine. Tannins. Dark chocolate. Hints of berries and some smoky note too.
Conclusion:
A very nice whisky, with not too much wine influence, sometimes it resembles a sherry cask (dried fruit, figs etc).
Nose: initially very vinous indeed, like a Bordeaux finish. This leads to black cherries, blackberry jam, yellow apples. Hints of violets and toffee. A little chocolate. Black liquorice. Also a certain leathery or fragrant side (oriental spices). Mouth: going further on baked apples and blackberries. Caramel coated nuts, plenty of peppery notes, cinnamon and a touch of anise. The wine is still very obvious, with light tannins, but certainly not overdone. Finish: medium, on sweet wine and chocolate, with drying spices in the very end.
Japanese whisky with a strong wine impact, but within this category quite successful (I often have trouble with red wine finishes). Well done.
For those who are not familiar with Ichiro Akuto, the grandson of the founder of now closed Hanyu Distillery. He started the Chichibu distillery in Japan’s Saitama prefecture in 2008, which by now released a few young (but good) expressions under the Chichibu label.
This particular whisky includes whisky distilled at the closed Hanyu distillery and was finished in a French oak cask that contained Japanese red wine, bottled and blended (vatted) at the Chichibu distillery (Ichiro’s new distillery). A rather unusual profile, don’t you think?