Chichibu 7EVEN Gods of Fortune 7 Years Old 2016

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. 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. The distillery ferments in washbacks built from Japanese mizunara oak, where native lactobacilli add fruit and a light incense note to the wash.

This is unpeated single malt, matured in a stout beer cask. By 7 years the spirit and oak have started to integrate, rougher notes softening as esters build into orchard and tropical fruit. The cask adds roasted malt and a cocoa note. The palate leans on tropical and orchard fruit, mango and apple, with a clean cereal note beneath.

This bottling was distilled in 2016, from cask 14161 and bottled in 2023. It is a run of 249 bottles, an event release. It is the kind of single cask that built the distillery's reputation among collectors in barely more than a decade. At 62.4% it drinks well neat, with water settling the oak. It remains one of the most collected names in modern Japanese whisky.