Ghost Series #12 is a Chichibu single cask distilled in 2009 and bottled ten years later, in 2019, from bourbon barrel #554. It came out at 61.9% ABV, and only 157 bottles were filled.
About This Whisky
Cask #554 began life as a Malt Dream Cask, one of Chichibu's privately owned casks, and was released as the twelfth bottle in the Ghost Series of Japanese single casks. Ten years in a bourbon barrel gave the whisky light, sweet fruit and vanilla, while the high strength keeps Chichibu's spice to the fore.
Tasting Profile
- Nose: Vanilla, pear, apple and honey, with a touch of sandalwood.
- Palate: Rich and powerful, with orchard fruit, pepper, ginger and sweet oak.
- Finish: Long, spicy and drying, with lingering fruit and wood.
Serving & Food
This is a whisky for a quiet evening. Pour 20mL or so into a nosing glass, give it time, then add cool water drop by drop. Keep food light: toasted almonds, mild aged Gouda or fresh white peach.
How to Enjoy
Serious Japanese whisky fans wanting to try one of Chichibu's early single casks at full strength.
Product Details
Distillery: Chichibu (Ichiro's Malt)
Series: Ghost Series #12
Region: Saitama, Japan
Cask: #554 (bourbon barrel)
Distilled: 2009
Bottled: 2019
Age: 10 years
Outturn: 157 bottles
ABV: 61.9%
Volume: 700mL
About the Distillery
Chichibu distillery started work in 2008 in the city of Chichibu, Saitama, about two hours west of Tokyo. It was the first new whisky distillery built in Japan since the 1970s, and was kept deliberately small.
Its first official release, Chichibu The First, came out in 2011. Demand grew fast, and in 2019 Ichiro Akuto opened a second, larger distillery nearby, Chichibu II.