A cheerful bunch of thirteen Chichibu in no particular order


April 20, 2026

A cheerful bunch of thirteen Chichibu
in no particular order

It’s a bit like attempting a motorbike jump over the Grand Canyon (think Evel Knievel) or climbing Everest without oxygen (think Reinhold Messner). Or even polishing off an entire bottle of Loch Dhu 10-year-old in under a year!

Pair of horns at Chichibu (Chichibu)

As a reminder, little Chichibu was the first of the “new” Japanese distilleries in over thirty years, built in 2008. Its founder, Ichiro Akuto, then went on to build Chichibu No. 2 in 2019, which is much larger and more modern. I’m not sure whether we’ll already have any Chichibu 2 on the table today; in any case, we’re going to proceed entirely at random. In short, this isn’t a blind tasting, but rather a blind selection.
Enough chatter, let’s get started…

Chichibu 7 yo 2017/2025 ‘Code’ (65.8%, Spirits of Salud, first fill bourbon barrel, cask #8274, 180 bottles)

Distilled from heavily peated Odyssey barley. In theory, all this is our favourite set-up, so this is off to a fine start. Colour: gold. Nose: obviously. It begins on gravel, wet chalk, fireplace ash and ashtray, then a touch of lemon and some seawater arrive, immediately bringing tension, although the whole remains curiously gentle for now. Freshly sawn fir wood then starts to creep in. With water: even more fir, fir ashes, some fresh putty and smoked sesame cream. Mouth (neat): citrus, brine and pinpoint ashes. A very slight medicinal alcohol side. Nothing else at this stage, but at these strengths, that is normal. It is nonetheless very lovely. With water: forget that medicinal alcohol business, this is a very pure expression of peat and smoked barley, in the vein of Kornog and Smögen. What a trio! The citrus is more prominent, and the fir resin and lemon duo works perfectly. Finish: long and precise. Comments: it was to be expected, and indeed we expected it.
SGP:467 - 91 points.

Chichibu ‘Paris Edition 2025’ (50.5%, OB, for La Maison du Whisky, Edition Asakusa, 2,484 bottles)

We usually taste these upon release, but this time we’ve been dragging our heels a wee bit, as you can see. This baby, which reached us under various very pretty labels, here we simply picked one at random, was assembled from seventeen casks, namely: four new French oak casks, one Spanish oak cask that had held sherry, three French oak casks that had held Bordeaux red wine, one American oak hogshead, six bourbon barrels as well as two bourbon barrels that had held a very peated whisky. At least, no single style ought to dominate… Colour: gold. Nose: we do nonetheless feel the influence of the French oak and the Bordeaux, if only by contrast with the previous one. Notes of green walnuts, a very slight rubbery touch, blood oranges, piperade, Aperol… With water: it folds back onto the distillate, and that is all to the good. The ‘red’ notes have faded away, while mastics and fresh paint are now to the fore. Mouth (neat): it is obviously excellent, but it is gentle. Blood oranges again, and again some Aperol, unless it is Campari. In short, the taste is ‘red’ as well. With water: here it continues along the same pattern, pink pepper, gentle bitters, raspberry, light salinity, light peat, bell pepper… Finish: fairly long, rather supple for Chichibu. Comments: it is excellent, there is a genuinely amusing puzzle side to it, but it is hard to compete with a heavily peated single bourbon cask.
SGP:553 - 88 points.

Chichibu 7 yo 2017/2025 (65.4%, OB for LMDW, Itinéraires, 1st fill bourbon barrel, cask #8282, 176 bottles)

Colour: gold. Nose: we could almost attempt to beat the world record for the shortest tasting note ever, as we are so close to the ‘2017 Code’. We could simply have written ‘same’. With water: same. Mouth (neat): well then, same. With water: same. Finish: same. Comments: we shall never beat the record of Victor Hugo, then in exile in Guernsey, who had sent his publisher in Paris, just after the launch of a new novel, a telegram reading ‘?’. His publisher had replied thus: ‘!’. That was Whiskyfun’s cultural minute. For once!
SGP:467 - 91 points.

Chichibu 7 yo 2017/2025 (61.4%, OB for LMDW, Itinéraires, Yoshiya Hongo, cider cask, cask #14329, 219 bottles)

I think it was the who Scots used to say, though everyone has forgotten it: ‘Grape or grain, but never the twain.’ Yet we have never heard anything about grain and apple, and even less about cider. Colour: orange. Nose: enough joking, we know that apple and whisky go perfectly together, and here is a fine example. It is rich and a little rounded, yet the coherence of the whole is perfect, on apple indeed but without that calvados side one may find elsewhere, while touches of pine resin and fresh mint then join in. Lovely! With water: the water brings out the liveliness of the whole, removes the initial fattiness, yet reveals clay and plasticine. Mouth (neat): much livelier on the palate, the apple is green and lemon joins in subito presto. It almost sends a shiver down the spine as it goes down. With water: same, it is excellent. Finish: long, very lively, racy, with indeed notes of green apple. Comments: can we learn more about this cider? Our cider stocks are depleted…
SGP:465 - 90 points.

Chichibu ‘The Ultimate Spirits’ (51%, OB for the Whisky Hoop Japan, 391 bottles, 2023)

A vatting, hold tight, of refill bourbon barrel, mizunara heads chibidaru, and mizunara heads hogshead. The barley was Concerto. We no longer quite recall what ‘chibidaru’ is, please refer to a reliable source. Colour: pale gold. Nose: perfectly balanced, waxier than the previous ones, closer to barley, bread, earth, little aromatic herbs, mint, dill, fennel seeds… We find this magnificent, Mister Hoop of Japan. With water: superb. Spruce needles, linseed oil… Mouth (neat): mint and lemon in perfect tango, then fresh pepper and eucalyptus. That must be the mizunara. With water: it does not move, yet it is perfect. Perhaps more grapefruit? Finish: long and once again closer to earth and conifers. Fir honey, cough syrup and finger lime. Comments: this is utterly impeccable, here at WF Towers we bow with deference.
SGP:463 - 91 points.

Chichibu 2015/2025 (58%, OB, mizunara heads quarter cask, for Rudder & Club Qing, Hong Kong, cask #16865, 176 bottles)

Some mizunara head quarter cask in action again. It does look like the smartest set-up involving mizu, does it not. Colour: full gold. Nose: amusing that we are finding bananas here, beyond the fresh resinous wood, cedarwood and temple incense. In any case this is very lovely, let us see what happens after adding water. After all, the heads only represent 23.7489% of the wood contact in a quarter cask, we have just made that up, sorry, but you get the picture. With water: well then, the coniferous woods come out even more, and we do rather like that. Very fine work on balance, as always with Chichibu. Mouth (neat): an explosion of tropical fruits, coated in fir honey. Orange, mango, cedarwood… With water: the barley and lemon come back in force. Finish: long, very fresh, perfect. The bananas from the start return a little, but on tiptoe. Comments: we rather think we are beginning to suffer from Chichibuitis, another serious condition that had long been brewing at WF-a-Lago.
SGP:562 - 91 points.

Let’s get to the bottom of this whole mizunara story, with a full-mizunara from a few years back that we’d never tasted before. Tell me about a whisky blogger…

Chichibu 2010/2018 (62.2%, OB, Number One Drinks, mizunara hogshead, cask #1000, 278 bottles)

Do we not rather miss those days when labels were more humorous, not to mention these wretched AIs. Colour: gold. Nose: pure mint tea, eucalyptus inhalations, fresh pine sawdust, but also fresh grist and proper pizza dough. One cannot say they got it wrong, at the start of the distillery. With water: cedarwood. It reminds us of Cedros de Luxe cases, back when we still smoked cigars, some twenty years ago. Mouth (neat): it does seem there is already a tiny touch of bottle ageing, and if we are not mistaken, that is very good news. In short, a perfect combination of lime, mint, fir buds and eucalyptus syrup. With water: same, merely in a slightly different order. Let us not elaborate, if you please. Finish: barley and earth come knocking at the door, wax signs off the whole. Comments: grand as an old Scottish malt from the 1960s, in the style of G&M.
SGP:562 - 92 points.

A genuinely tricky session, we just can’t seem to drop below the 90-point mark (or 90%). Perhaps with a sherried one? …

Chichibu 10 yo 2014/2025 (62.3%, OB for LMDW, Itinéraires, Yoshiya Hongo, oloroso sherry, cask #10416, 246 bottles)

Right then, let us not mock sherry, it was after all what propelled Japanese whisky onto the world stage, with the famous Yamazakis, including the 1984 that won the now defunct Malt Maniacs Awards (de profundis), before a diminutive whisky writer with a slight obsession started promoting it himself. The PR agencies did the rest but let us move on… Colour: copper amber. Nose: it needs water, it is a little brutal at cask strength. Wine vinegar? That cannot be right… With water: sulphury puffs, though they do not last too long, then basalt, green pepper and leather. Mouth (neat): utterly explosive, extreme, too much, as acidic and bitter as one could imagine. A decoction of walnut skins and chilli. With water: better, yet it jars and feels dissonant, ultra-vegetal, bitter, resinous and truly extreme. Finish: very long, green, bitter, prickly, vinegary. Plenty of leather, green pepper and bay leaf. Comments: let us say it, we expected this, it clashes. Yet this is entirely a personal view, and, in the end, it remains a very good Japanese whisky.
SGP:272 - 82 points.

We can’t possibly leave it there…

Chichibu 8 yo 2016/2024 (63%, OB for Rudder, mizunara heads hogshead, cask #5826, 195 bottles)

Concerto barley and always this clever way of using mizunara with restraint. Colour: plain gold. Nose: all in gentleness, vanilla, bananas and mangoes, even three drops of yellow Chartreuse, the gentlest one, yet let us not be fooled by the very high strength, which inevitably distorts our dear spirits. With water: mint and mango. Mouth (neat): rounded, soft, citrusy and tropical, rather like a Lochside. Do we remember Lochside? With water: very coated, very fruity, very much on citrus, grapefruits, oranges, then pink pepper. Touches of vineyard peaches. The mizunara is ultimately rather discreet. Finish: long and fruity, nicely defined, on citrus. Then notes of peach skin. Comments: major fruitiness, extremely discreet peat, we are not even sure there was any. The mizunara too was discreet.
SGP:651 - 90 points.

Chichibu 2018/2025 (62.2%, OB for Spirits Shop' Selection Taiwan, 1st fill barrel, cask #10986, 215 bottles)

This is the Taiwan Edition 2025, it works rather like Cuban cigars, with special editions per country, or so it seems to us. Yet nothing here feels remotely frightening… Colour: gold. Nose: pure barley, banana, barley syrup, acacia honey, mirabelle liqueur, apricot liqueur… It is very gentle for now; we are far from the peated versions. With water: banana juice blended with guava. Mouth (neat): fresher and more playful, tropical, had you served this blind, we would have said Amrut. Honestly. Or Nantou Omar ex-bourbon. With water: even more tropical. Finish: same. Comments: a fruit bomb that is excellent, though it perhaps strays a little from the distillery’s DNA, you see what we mean.
SGP:741 - 87 points.

Chichibu 2014/2025 (61.2%, OB for Spirits Shop' Selection Taiwan, 2nd fill bourbon barrel, cask #3548, 164 bottles)

This time it is heavily peated, so it should be different… Colour: gold. Nose: pretty, on almond milk, pistachio syrup, patchouli, fresh putty, brand new rubber boots, yet without truly massive peat. With water: lime, scuba diving suit, linseed oil… Mouth (neat): we find again the razor-sharp freshness of this style, limes and ashes, sorrel, zests… Yet indeed, at cask strength, the peat remains measured. With water: it is the fruitiness that wins the day, the peat remains decorative, at least compared to the 2017s. Finish: fairly long, on lime and fir buds. Comments: this seems to sit at an intermediate level between the ‘heavily peated’ and the unpeated versions. Of course, it is very good, just not entirely magical, in our very humble opinion.
SGP:553 - 87 points.

Chichibu ‘Taiwan Edition 2025’ (53.5%, OB, bourbon barrel and virgin oak hogshead, 840 bottles)

Very well then, there are several editions per country, that is at least how we understand it. Colour: full gold. Nose: this is rather pretty, the virgin oak does not show too much, virgin oak can be vulgar, yet there is still plenty of vanilla, mirabelles, orange cake, apricot jam… With water: touches of beeswax arrive, the whole remaining fairly simple, and therefore coherent. Mouth (neat): very good, on lemons and yellow plums, litres of barley syrup, some lemongrass, even a touch of limoncello… With water: this is truly a very good fruity malt, very much in the style of young Benriach or Balblair, though not especially distinctive. Finish: good length, on yellow fruit jellies, with a notable arrival of quince. Comments: perhaps not masses of Chichibuness, yet it remains rather excellent, of course.
SGP:641 - 85 points.

I think it’s high time to bring this extravagant session to a close. We had others lined up—most notably an intriguing blend of Chichibu and Ardnamurchan (The Glover)—but we’ll save all that for next time.
Right then, the last one…

Chichibu 2018/2025 (66.7%, OB, Taiwan Edition, red wine barrel, cask #9793, 223 bottles)

With a portrait of the owner on the label. Ichiro, we are joking! That said, a nice malt in a red wine barrel is more or less the equivalent of Milli Vanilli singing JS Bach, it does seem a little dubious. Let us see… And well, have you noticed the strength? Colour: copper gold. Nose: this seems rather good, it clashes less than Milli Vanilli tackling Bach, yet that mix of very fruity barley, strawberry and green pepper remains a little concerning. For now. With water: pleasant, though somewhat dispensable. We perhaps should not have started this session with the bourbons… Mouth (neat): on the palate, it works rather well, with notes of pepper, bay leaf, tomato and raspberry, quite surprising yet not unpleasant. And plenty of alcohol. With water: it is fine, it is fine… Green pepper. Finish: long, vegetal, on green pepper sauce and green tomatoes. Pesto, ketchup… Comments: we are in the realm of the unusual.
SGP:561 - 82 points.

I humbly think that you can have one of the finest distillates in the world, but if you put it into casks that don’t necessarily make much sense, red wine casks in particular, you can only lose out. I know, I go on about it, but that’s my personal view and I stand by it.
Until next time, we’ll have plenty more Chichibu, but I suspect we’ll be pouring the red wine cask versions straight down the sink, without a second thought. Life’s too short. Now let me insist, it’s always a matter of personal taste. I don’t deny, for instance, that the two expressions that ‘only’ scored 82 points are excellent whiskies, and I’m quite sure they have their die-hard aficionados. No problemo.

(Thanks Aaron, thanks KC)

Check the index of Japanese whiskies we've tasted