Chichibu 10 Years Old 2012 Cask #1763 (TWE)

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. Water comes off the Arakawa river system, filtered through the surrounding mountains to a clean mineral balance that lets the fruit and oak show. 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 ex-bourbon American oak. Ten years and more is a serious age for this distillery, the ellagitannins lending tannic structure and the esters now deep and layered. Ex-bourbon vanillin reads as vanilla and oak lactones as coconut. The spirit character stays fruit forward, apple and pear over a soft, malty body and a gentle spice.

This bottling was distilled in 2012, from cask 1763 and bottled in 2022. It is a run of 175 bottles, an event release, bottled by The Whisky Exchange. Releases at this scale sell out quickly, which is part of why Chichibu has become one of the most traded distilleries in the world. Bottled at 58.5%, it rewards a drop of water to open the fruit.