Chichibu Single Cask #4232 7 Years Old 2015 (Ex-Bourbon)

Founded in 2008 by Ichiro Akuto, Chichibu has risen fast from a small mountain distillery to one of the most sought names in Japanese whisky. Wide day to night temperature swings drive the wood interaction, which is why Chichibu reads older than its years suggest. 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.

This is unpeated single malt, matured in ex-bourbon American oak. At 7 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. Ex-bourbon vanillin reads as vanilla and oak lactones as coconut. Underneath the wood, the make keeps its clean, fruity core, green apple and stone fruit with a light floral edge.

This bottling was distilled in 2015, from cask 4232 and bottled in 2022. It is a run of 153 bottles, released for UK. It is the kind of single cask that built the distillery's reputation among collectors in barely more than a decade. At 59.5% it drinks well neat, with water settling the oak.