Cask #179 comes from Chichibu's very first year of distilling. It was filled in December 2008, left in an ex-bourbon barrel until October 2019 and bottled at 60.9% for Jazz & Drink Mood'y Blue in Japan as part of the Malt Dream Cask programme. This bottle is offered without its outer box.
About This Whisky
Malt Dream Cask was the name given to casks that Chichibu sold whole to private owners in its early years, mostly Japanese bars and shops, with the whisky bottled under their name once it was ready. Cask #179 spent close to eleven years in its bourbon barrel, a long stretch for spirit from this distillery. It gave 179 bottles at 60.9% ABV, at natural colour and without chill filtration.
Tasting Profile
- Nose: Ripe pear, vanilla pod and white flowers, with a waft of polished oak over warm malt.
- Palate: Full and oily at cask strength, with honeyed barley, baked apple, clove and a little leather.
- Finish: Long and spicy, drying to oak and pepper with a trace of pipe tobacco.
Serving & Food
A tulip glass at room temperature is the right start. At 60.9% it takes water well, so add water sparingly and let the glass settle between sips. Good company for aged Comté, grilled unagi or a slice of dark chocolate tart.
How to Enjoy
Drinkers who follow Chichibu's first vintage, and anyone building a run of Malt Dream Cask bottlings.
Product Details
Distillery: Chichibu
Series: Malt Dream Cask, Jazz & Drink Mood'y Blue
Cask number: #179
Cask type: Ex-bourbon barrel
Distilled: December 2008
Bottled: October 2019
Outturn: 179 bottles
ABV: 60.9%
Category: Japanese Single Malt Whisky
Country: Japan
Region: Saitama
Size: 700mL
Packaging: No box
About the Distillery
Ichiro Akuto's grandfather founded the Hanyu distillery in Saitama. When Hanyu closed, Akuto held on to roughly 400 casks of its whisky, set up Venture Whisky in 2004 and started work on a distillery of his own in the hills of Chichibu. Spirit first ran from its stills in February 2008, and the site was the first new whisky distillery licensed in Japan in 35 years. While the early spirit aged, small Newborn bottlings let drinkers taste its progress. A small team handles every stage on one site, from mashing to filling casks.