Chichibu Ichiro’s Malt 8 Years Old 2015

In the Saitama mountains northwest of Tokyo, Chichibu has made malt whisky since 2008 under Ichiro Akuto and his Venture Whisky company. The distillery ferments in washbacks built from Japanese mizunara oak, where native lactobacilli add fruit and a light incense note to the wash. 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 a red wine cask. By 8 years the spirit and oak have started to integrate, rougher notes softening as esters build into orchard and tropical fruit. The wine lends red berry fruit and a light tannic grip. 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 2015, from cask 14081 and bottled in 2024. It is a run of 278 bottles, released for Poland. Each cask is bottled on its own terms, a snapshot of how a particular wood shaped the Saitama spirit. At 62.5% it drinks well neat, with water settling the oak.