Chichibu 2011 – Peated (LMDW)

Chichibu is the flagship craft distillery of Japan, founded in 2008 by Ichiro Akuto in Saitama prefecture under his Venture Whisky company. This bottling draws from a single Ex-Bourbon cask distilled in 2011 and released in 2016 as a five-year-old peated expression, selected by La Maison du Whisky for the French market and bottled at cask strength.

Five years in Ex-Bourbon oak gives the spirit its structural vanilla and fresh timber, while the peated new make contributes a thread of smoke and citrus brightness that is characteristic of Chichibu's lighter, fruit-forward house style. At 61.3% and undiluted from a single cask, the texture is bold and the smoke integrates with the distillery's typically vibrant fruit character.