Chichibu 5 Years Old 2012 Cask #2087 (LMDW)

Chichibu distillery, established by Ichiro Akuto in Saitama in 2008, produces spirit at a scale that allows individual cask selection with great precision. La Maison du Whisky selected this 2012 vintage cask numbered 2087 for the French market, released at just five years of age when the new make's character still dominates the profile.

Matured in an Ex-Bourbon barrel, the five years of contact with American oak have added vanilla and a light tannin frame, but the flavour profile at 62.5% cask strength remains strongly influenced by the new make: coal-gas and leathery notes typical of a young, high-strength spirit, offset by the tropical fruit and barley sweetness Chichibu's new make delivers. The result is direct, concentrated and clearly from an early stage of maturation, a snapshot of Chichibu at its most uncompromising.