Chichibu Single Cask #1441 8 Years Old 2011 (Mizunara)

Cask number 1441 from Chichibu distillery in Saitama is a single mizunara maturation, the Japanese oak that delivers the most distinctive and unpredictable character in Chichibu's cask programme. Distilled in 2011 and bottled in 2019 at 8 years old, this single cask was bottled by Venture Whisky for event release at cask strength.

Mizunara is notoriously variable, and this cask's noted flavour profile of mossy, oily, coal-gas, kippery, leafy and leathery character places it at the more intense, wild end of what Japanese oak can produce. The longer the spirit spends in mizunara, the more the wood's resinous, incense-laden influence dominates over the underlying new make. At 59%, the spirit carries the full weight of the wood's contribution, presenting an unusual, strongly individual expression of Chichibu's house character filtered through eight years of Japanese oak.