The Whisky Exchange turned 20 in 2019 and marked it with this single cask of Chichibu: peated spirit distilled in 2012, matured in refill hogshead #2089 and bottled at 60.8%. There were 349 bottles.
About This Whisky
Distilled in 2012 from peated malt and matured in a refill hogshead, a cask that has already given up its first flush of oak, so smoke and fruit from the spirit lead. It spent about seven years in wood before being bottled in 2019 for The Whisky Exchange's 20th anniversary, at a cask strength of 60.8%. The outturn was 349 bottles.
Tasting Profile
- Nose: Vanilla and orchard fruit up front, with a steady thread of wood smoke and soot behind.
- Palate: Full and oily: sweet peat smoke, ash and baked apple, then mango and pineapple as it opens.
- Finish: Long, with cocoa nibs, smoky toffee and smouldering peat.
Serving & Food
Serve at about 18°C in a tulip glass. Taste it neat, then add cool water in small steps to bring the tropical fruit forward. Try it next to smoked duck breast, dark chocolate with sea salt, or grilled eel.
How to Enjoy
A strong choice for peated Japanese malt drinkers and for anyone who follows The Whisky Exchange's anniversary bottlings.
Product Details
Distillery: Chichibu
Country: Japan
Category: Japanese Single Malt Whisky
Style: Japanese single malt whisky, peated
Vintage: 2012
Bottled: 2019
Single Cask: #2089
Cask Type: Refill hogshead
Bottled For: The Whisky Exchange 20th Anniversary
Bottles: 349
ABV: 60.8% ABV
Volume: 700mL
About the Distillery
Chichibu is small enough that much of the work is still done by hand. The mash is stirred with a wooden paddle, fermentation runs in washbacks made from mizunara oak (eight of them now, after the original six), and the two copper pot stills are compact, with steeply angled lyne arms. The stills came from Forsyths in Elgin, so the equipment follows Scottish lines, and the approach mirrors Scotch practice while letting the local climate shape the character. The team also makes its own chibidaru, small quarter casks, on site.