Description
Chichibu London Edition 2021 Single Malt Whisky
Chichibu Distillery started producing its famous Whisky in 2008. It is a small distillery which specializes in single malt whisky and was the first whisky distillery built in Japan since the 1970s. The distillery is owned by Venture Whisky Ltd., established by Ichiro Akuto in 2004 in Chichibu, a city in Japan’s Saitama Prefecture, about 100 kilometres from Tokyo. Ichiro Akuto was born into a family with a long brewing tradition, they had started sake brewing in Chichibu around 1625. To this day the natural environment, seasonal characteristics and the high quality of the water provide perfect conditions for distilleries.
The 2021 is the fourth release of Chichibu’s London Edition, produced annually to coincide with The Whisky Show. This is a vatting of seven barrels with a minimum age of five years, with some first-fill bourbon and some ex-peated whisky casks in the mix.
   Nose:   Rubber and burning rubber. Beeswax on citrus peels, the dried cut of a lemon. Then herbs, spices and foliage roll over you. Chestnut, eucalyptus, lemon balm, camphor.
   Taste:   A short time it is very musty, then come salt, lemon and a strong minerality. Then it gets a little quieter, slightly bitter, before it goes towards rubber again.
   Finish:   The bitter notes fill the mouth, along with some peat, a slightly grassy note and some petroleum ether. After some time, it becomes a little calmer, as with the taste. Then a light-footed but dry sweetness settles, along with some blood orange.
