Contrabass is one of the Jazz Instrumental bottlings from the Ken's Choice label: Kentucky whiskey distilled in 2006, given a long second rest at the Chichibu distillery in Japan, and bottled in 2018. Cask 1651 yielded just 108 bottles at 53.4%.
About This Whisky
Auction records for cask 1651 give a first maturation in Kentucky from 2006 to 2012 and a second at Chichibu from February 2012 to August 2018, roughly twelve years in all. Bottled at a natural cask strength of 53.4%, it produced 108 bottles, which makes it one of the smaller outturns in the series.
Tasting Profile
- Nose: Deep caramel and toasted oak, with vanilla, clove and a faintly herbal, minty edge.
- Palate: Firm and warming, with sweet grain, orange peel and oak spice over a dry, woody core.
- Finish: Medium-long, finishing on pepper, cedar and a lick of brown sugar.
Serving & Food
Keep it neat at room temperature in a rocks glass or a copita, and add water a few drops at a time if the oak feels tight. It suits char siu, a mature cheddar or a coffee-and-walnut cake.
How to Enjoy
Jazz Instrumental completists, and drinkers who enjoy older American whiskey with a slower, cooler maturation behind it.
Product Details
Brand / Series: Ken's Choice Jazz Instrumental, Contrabass
Producer: Distilled in Kentucky, USA; second maturation and bottling at Chichibu
Vintage: 2006
Cask number: #1651
Maturation: Kentucky 2006 to 2012; Chichibu February 2012 to August 2018
Outturn: 108 bottles
Category: American Whiskey, second-matured in Japan
ABV: 53.4%
Format: 700mL
Origin: USA (distilled) / Japan (matured and bottled)
About the Distillery
Ken's Bar in Shinjuku was a jazz and bourbon bar, run by Ken Matsuyama from 2004 until 2022, and the Jazz Instrumental series puts both interests on one label by naming each cask after an instrument. Piano, Contrabass and Drums were the first three, all bottled in 2018.
The whiskey inside was distilled in Kentucky by a distillery the label does not name; Wild Turkey is the usual retail guess, though it has not been confirmed. It was then handed to Ichiro Akuto's Chichibu distillery in Saitama for a long second maturation. Chichibu, owned by his company Venture Whisky, has been distilling its own malt since 2008.