Chichibu 9 Years Old 2016 Cask #5732 (LMDW)

In the Saitama mountains northwest of Tokyo, Chichibu has made malt whisky since 2008 under Ichiro Akuto and his Venture Whisky company. Production is small, around a third of a million litres a year, with floor malting done by hand on occasion and every stage run under one roof. 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. At 9 years, helped by an angel's share near double Scotland's, the make tastes older than it is, the esters rounding into stone fruit and the oak settling. 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 2016, from cask 5732 and bottled in 2025. It is a run of 166 bottles, released for France, bottled by La Maison du Whisky. Releases at this scale sell out quickly, which is part of why Chichibu has become one of the most traded distilleries in the world. At 63.3% it drinks well neat, with water settling the oak.