Chichibu 3 Years Old 2011 Cask #1490 + 1683 (ePower)

Chichibu distillery opened in 2008 in Saitama prefecture, the project of Ichiro Akuto as successor to the Hanyu whisky legacy. The very first casks filled at Chichibu represent a rare historical record of the distillery's origins and its early commitment to Japanese oak alongside conventional wood. This bottling combines casks 1490 and 1683, both distilled in 2011 and released in 2015 by the private bottler ePower for the Japanese domestic market.

At just three years old, the spirit spent its entire maturation in Mizunara, Japanese oak renowned for its sandalwood, incense and subtle coconut notes that typically require many years to fully emerge. Here, those qualities appear as early suggestions layered over Chichibu's youthful fruit-forward new make character. Bottled at cask strength 61.1%, this is a document of Chichibu's earliest years and of Japanese oak's influence even at a short maturation.