A stroll in new Japan, Part 3


June 30, 2025

A stroll in new Japan, Part 3 and last

We still had two, three or maybe four more that we wanted to try; as for the other Japanese ones we have in stock, that’ll be for later.

Chichibu 2015/2023 ‘Edition 2023’ (53%, OB, 540 bottles)

A vatting of 3 casks, one bourbon barrel and two ex-umeshu according to the back label. As you know, umeshu is a plum liqueur, though it’s said that these plums are actually a kind of apricot, the ‘ume’. Colour: gold. Nose: I’ve had umeshu before, but I couldn’t tell you for certain whether what’s coming through here originates from that, but most likely. A slightly fruity and earthy side, with almonds (that must be the stones). What’s charming is how it reinforces the Japanese character, or what we perceive as ‘Japanese’, distancing itself from any ‘international’ style. With water: hints of rubber tree and sap from pine and cherry. Mouth: well, I do quite like this strong spritz with fewer bubbles. Plums, earth, tangerines, a fizzy aspirin tablet (which adds nothing here) and pickled ginger. With water: very pleasant fermentary side, still with that light medicinal note that’s nothing like the usual medicinal whiskies. Finish: rather long, mainly on mandarin, almonds and still that earthy side. Comments: I’d imagine they used some top-notch umeshu casks, and it shows. Truth be told, I didn’t know umeshu was aged in casks.
SGP:551 - 87 points.

Chichibu 2014/2023 (59.5%, OB, for The Whisky Exchange, The Cyborg Trilogy, Beer cask Imperial stout IPA, cask #11043, 236 bottles)

In principle, nothing beats a more natural cask. Certainly not a beer cask of this sort, but you never know… Is this Japanese beer? Or did TWE go for a British brew? Colour: gold. Nose: we’re diving straight into the odd – waxy, fermentary, concentrated orange juice, fresh cement, Earl Grey, new cuddly toys in the children’s aisle… With water: right then, now we’ve got Play-Doh too, and some linden blossom. Amusing combination. Mouth (neat): far too soapy for me, honestly. Citrus shampoo. With water: better, but this really is something for a cyborg, I must say. Finish: long. I don’t think I understand anything here. Comments: is a well-executed weird idea still a weird idea? Answers on a postcard please, they’re back in fashion! Ignore my score, it was a cyborg who picked it. No comprendo.
SGP:462 - 83 points.

Alright, I admit it, I’d set aside the supposedly odd Chichibus we had for this… odd session.

Saburomaru 2021/2024 ‘V Heavily Peated’ (48%, OB, Japan)

This one’s called ‘The Hierophant’. I must admit, not being a card player or a great scholar of ancient Greece, I didn’t even know what a hierophant was until today. Cheers, Wakatsuru! Colour: white wine. Nose: we’re back to the stylistic purity of the previous ‘IV’ release, it’s almost narrow, simple, abstract, and yet very beautiful, on, let’s say, fresh pear smoked with peat and fir wood. No more, no less. Mouth (neat): splendid, abstract, chiselled as they say. A slightly resinous peatiness, on green apple and lemon. Lovely wee touch of green pepper. A few drops of water… change nothing (smart move, S.) Finish: long, with some chilli appearing and more pepper, which adds even more ‘blade’ to the whole. Loads of ashes on the aftertaste, including cigar ash. Comments: clean lines, flawless, it’s like a Calder or a Miró in a bottle. Very 1960s, aesthetically speaking.
SGP:467 - 88 points.

Do you believe in the aesthetics of a spirit?

Saburomaru 2020/2024 ‘IV’ (60.9%, OB, for Abyss Whisky Bar Hong Kong, Japan, bourbon barrel, cask #200158, 179 bottles)

Colour: pale gold. Nose: the bourbon cask influence smooths things out further and brings notes of banana, mango and guava into a peaty, medicinal ensemble, heavy on hessian, dunnage, bandages, camphor balms and the like. Pure line once again. With water: oddly, it tightens on iodine tincture and an extinguished fireplace. Mouth (neat): lemon juice, hints of myrtle, fir liqueur, pepper liqueur, and forty tonnes of ashes, with a sort of quasi-basaltic edge. Don’t ask me why forty. With water: it all unfolds at around +/-45% vol., with lots of little herbs around mint, liquorice wood and pomelo, though still with those truckloads of ash that almost make you cough. Cough, cough… Finish: long, clean, but with lovely bitters that come to take over. Artichoke liqueurs, green walnut and so on. Comments:
SGP:467 - 90 points.

I believe there are now quite a few young Japanese distilleries offering pure, precise, very well-made malts, and above all, some not smothered by improbable casks sourced from around the Mediterranean. Speaking very humbly, I think our dear Scottish friends ought to take inspiration from them, rather than chasing after bargain Bordeaux barrels. On that note, a little joke to finish…

St. Kilian ‘Mizunara’ (54%, OB, Germany, 2023)

A full maturation in mizunara casks, aka Quercus Mongolica, though of course that only really carries weight if said maturation went on for more than three or four years. Anyway, we’re not too sure, but we absolutely love how St. Kilian doesn’t take itself too seriously. They should be giving lectures beyond Hadrian’s Wall, I say. And sell this stuff for a fortune. Colour, pale gold. Nose: but of course, this works, with underripe banana skins, fir needles, rustic muesli, loads of sourdough and yeast (I mean really loads) with an almost explosive sourdough character. Süweckla. With water: petrol and engine oil! Mouth (neat): ginger and mint running wild, followed by pine resin, mashed banana and marzipan. It probably won’t sweep the double-gold at the World Whisky Awards (category: German malts without age statement, matured in exotic casks, bottled between 53% and 55%) but we love it all the same. With water: ausgezeichnet. Finish: long, slightly too resinous and mentholated, but that’s likely part of the pitch, as they say in marketing. Comments: I love it. Fun, unlikely, and yet seriously good. Just be warned, pipette or teaspoon dilution is tricky to get right, as always when there’s heavy oak involved. Hoppla.
SGP:571 - 87 points.

Check the index of all Japanese whiskies we've tasted so far