Chichibu Single Cask #5743 8 Years Old 2012 (Red Wine)

Chichibu is a small Saitama distillery started in 2008 by Ichiro Akuto, founder of Venture Whisky and heir to the Hanyu distilling family. Production is small, around a third of a million litres a year, with floor malting done by hand on occasion and every stage run under one roof. Water comes off the Arakawa river system, filtered through the surrounding mountains to a clean mineral balance that lets the fruit and oak show.

This is unpeated single malt, matured in a red wine cask. At 8 years, helped by an angel's share near double Scotland's, the make tastes older than it is, the esters rounding into stone fruit and the oak settling. The wine lends red berry fruit and a light tannic grip. On the palate the Chichibu signature shows through: bright orchard fruit, a clean citrus lift and a thread of wildflower honey.

This bottling was distilled in 2012, from cask 5743 and bottled in 2020. It is a run of 120 bottles, an event release. From a distillery still in its first generation, bottlings like this show how far Chichibu has come in a short time. Bottled at 62.9%, natural colour and not chill filtered.