Chichibu Bottled for Paul Ullrich 6 Years Old 2013

The Chichibu distillery was founded in 2008 by Ichiro Akuto, whose family had distilled at the closed Hanyu plant, and works on a small scale in the Saitama mountains. Wide day to night temperature swings drive the wood interaction, which is why Chichibu reads older than its years suggest. 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.

This is unpeated single malt, matured in ex-bourbon American oak. By 6 years the spirit and oak have started to integrate, rougher notes softening as esters build into orchard and tropical fruit. Ex-bourbon vanillin reads as vanilla and oak lactones as coconut. On the palate the Chichibu signature shows through: bright orchard fruit, a clean citrus lift and a thread of wildflower honey.

This bottling was distilled in 2013, from cask 2573 and bottled in 2019. It is a run of 180 bottles, released for Switzerland. It is the kind of single cask that built the distillery's reputation among collectors in barely more than a decade. At 63.4%, best read neat first, then opened with a little water.