Chichibu Tokyo International BarShow 2018 7 Years Old 2011

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. The distillery ferments in washbacks built from Japanese mizunara oak, where native lactobacilli add fruit and a light incense note to the wash. The basin climate swings from humid summers near 35 degrees to winters below freezing, so the casks expand and contract hard and the spirit takes on wood faster than it would in Scotland.

This is unpeated single malt, matured in Japanese mizunara oak. Around 7 years in, the fruit esters and the wood have married, and the accelerated ageing gives a depth a Scottish whisky might reach much later. Mizunara lactones give sandalwood and a temple incense note. The body is medium and the fruit clear, baked apple and citrus peel running into a warm, lightly spiced finish.

This bottling was distilled in 2011, from cask 1475 and bottled in 2018. It is a run of 257 bottles, 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. At 61.3% it drinks well neat, with water settling the oak.