Chichibu The Peninsula Tokyo 2018

The Chichibu Peninsula Tokyo 2018 is a single malt from Venture Whisky's Saitama distillery, released as an event release for the Peninsula Tokyo hotel in 2018. Custom hotel and venue editions have been a recurring feature of Chichibu's release schedule, with Ichiro Akuto's distillery collaborating on bespoke bottlings for specific hospitality partners, each typically drawing on casks that express a defined character.

Matured in Ex-Bourbon casks and bottled at cask strength 58%, this expression carries a coal-gas smoke note in its flavour profile, an unusual characteristic for Chichibu, which primarily produces unpeated malt. At this high proof, the spirit is assertive and the smoke note is forward, sitting alongside the vanilla and grain sweetness that Ex-Bourbon wood typically provides. The event-market status and specific venue origin make this one of the more singular expressions in the Chichibu catalogue, distinct in both format and character from the annual market-edition series.