Chichibu 7 Years Old 2011 Cask #3537 (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. Chichibu loses roughly three to five per cent of each cask a year to evaporation, near double the Scottish rate, so a young whisky here carries the depth of a much older one. The make is double distilled in copper pot stills built by Forsyths, from mostly unpeated barley, and matured on site in dunnage warehouses.

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. Chichibu's fruit led house character carries throughout, pear and honey balanced by a dry, oaky finish.

This bottling was distilled in 2011, from cask 3537 and bottled in 2018. It is a run of 239 bottles, an event release, bottled by The Whisky Exchange. Each cask is bottled on its own terms, a snapshot of how a particular wood shaped the Saitama spirit. At 59.5%, best read neat first, then opened with a little water.