Chichibu Malt Dream Cask 11 Years Old 2008

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. Wide day to night temperature swings drive the wood interaction, which is why Chichibu reads older than its years suggest. 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. Ten years and more is a serious age for this distillery, the ellagitannins lending tannic structure and the esters now deep and layered. 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 2008, from cask 215 and bottled in 2019. It is released for Japan. Single casks like this are the heart of the Chichibu name, each one a different reading of the same young, fast matured spirit. Bottled at 61.4%, natural colour and not chill filtered. It remains one of the most collected names in modern Japanese whisky.