61°
Distillery : Chichibu - Japan
Local Koshu Japanese Wine Cask
Original Bottling
Limited Edition
Single Cask
Bottled in 2022
Unchillfiltered, Uncoloured, Cask Strength
Peated around 15 to 20 ppm
Chichibu is a small Japanese distillery founded in 2008 by Ichiro Akuto,
grandson of the founder of the legendary Hanyu distillery closed in 2000. With
its tiny production, around 80,000 liters of alcohol per year, it mainly crafts rare bottlings that make fodder for the auctioneers.
Here we have an 8-year-old Single Cask matured in a Koshu wine
cask, which is a typical Japanese rosé wine. Only 263 bottles are
produced, adorned with a self-portrait by Japanese artist Aki Kuroda. It bears the Antipodes label affixed by La Maison du Whisky, with
three other Single Casks, each having followed a different maturation, the whole making a collection which will be the target of
collectors.
Let's Taste It :
On the nose, icing sugar combined with very fine, grainy, mineral peat. Ethereal iodine gives a lovely breadth. Evanescent smoke, light fruits, grapes, lychees. A hint of lemon, a whiff of citrus, a certain humidity that brings to mind a forest clearing on a rainy day. Clementines. Interesting palate, with the citrus fruits and minerality on the increase, the peat remaining in the background. Some notes of smooth charcoal, dragon fruit. Powerful, exotic spices: white pepper, nutmeg, star anise. Fine balance at the end. Strong, long and sinuous finish, black earth and lignite, humus, vanilla beans. A pinch of cinnamon.
In Short,
Very original, amazing, well done, I understand why this distillery is
unleashing the masses. But the juice is only 8 years old, it is not
exceptionally subtle. And it's being sold at a ridiculously high price.
It's good, it's nice, but it's not worth selling your car.
Score : 89
To Be Listened While Sipping :
Moby - Natural Blues
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