Three Japanese days on WF, day 2


September 15, 2026

Three Japanese days on WF, day 2

Let’s start, once again, with one of Ichiro’s blends…

Ichiro’s Malt & Grain ‘The Dragon Awakes’ (61.1%, OB, Lucky Choice & The Antelope, sherry finish, cask #B0026, 284 bottles, 2025)

Colour: full gold. Nose: it strikes me as a little more grain-driven than yesterday’s, with corn cream, vanilla and a faint touch of coconut, but there’s also some lovely shoe polish and wood smoke. Let’s see what water has to say about that… With water: orange cream, sweetcorn, praline, pancakes… Mouth (neat): extremely powerful and rather ‘bourbon’ at this stage. It really does need water… With water: it rdoes seem more grain-driven. Lemonade, Fanta, a few drops of chardonnay… Finish: fairly long, with a profile that rather recalls those old Scottish ‘blended at birth’ single blends. Rather uncommon, admittedly. Comments: I find this really good, with a lighter texture despite the sherry.
SGP:541 - 85 points.

Japan 10 yo 2014/2025 (54.5%, Elixir Distillers, The Whisky Trail, cask #11044, 240 bottles)

Whoops, I thought this was a secret Japanese, but I’ve just noticed it’s actually a Chichibu. So, we’ll have to file it with the Chichibus, especially as the colour itself is already looking very promising by our standards… Colour: Chablis, alright. Nose: all the freshness and liveliness we were expecting. Small ripe apples, fresh barley, clay, one drop of lapsang souchong, then suddenly, an explosion of mangoes, uppercut-style. There, that’s quite enough to make us happy. With water: apple and mango juice. Mouth (neat): it’s a gentle Chichibu at first, all simplicity and delicacy. High-quality green tea, apple peel, lemon… and bang, full-on mango once again. With water: yellow fruits everywhere, ending on passion fruit. Finish: long, lively, but thickened by mango liqueur. Comments: I have to admit, it’s very difficult to resist this mango bombardment. We do adapt our tasting notes to current affairs, as you can see.
SGP:751 - 90 points.

So…

Chichibu 10 yo 2016/2026 (64.7%, Spirits of Salud, 7even Gods of Fortune, 1st fill barrel, cask #5731, 144 bottles)

Chichibu 10 yo 2016/2026 (64.7%, Spirits of Salud, 7even Gods of Fortune, 1st fill barrel, cask #5731, 144 bottles)
This wee yet mighty god is called ‘Takarabune’. Colour: full gold. Nose: let’s say it, this is strikingly close to the 2014/2025 Chichibu we’ve just tasted, with mangoes, apples, passion fruits, a little cedarwood, papayas... It’s beautiful, almost immaculately simple, I was about to say biblical, really very ‘clear line’. With water: it gets even narrower, like a small bergamot you’re squeezing between your hands, right under your nose. A little cedar too. Mouth (neat): superb, with mangoes and grapefruits, joined by verbena and Chartreuse, although all that remains discreet and elegant. Wow. With water: it becomes a little easier, but with the same grapefruits, which have now overtaken the mangoes, plus a touch of lemony salinity. Finish: long, bewilderingly simple and magnificent. Almost a daiquiri made with Hampden and mango juice, in the required proportions. I mean… Comments: yet another Chichibu that ought to come with a warning sticker about its frankly excessive drinkability. It goes down like mother’s milk, even without water. But I’m not recommending that, don’t go putting words into my mouth, right.
SGP:651 - 91 points.

Let’s (try to) tone things down a little…

Mars Komagate 22 yo (43%, OB, +/-2026)

A rather astonishing oldish expression at a very ‘1990s’ 43%, straight out of the old Macallan playbook. A deliberate wink towards the famous distillery in Craigellachie? Colour: deep gold. Nose: well, there we are, this could almost pass for 1980s Macallan, with that faint smokiness and little touch of shoe polish complementing a whole bed of camphor, dead leaves, walnuts and mushrooms. Superb sherry. Mouth: goodness, this is good! 43% or no 43%, there’s magnificent complexity here, that shoe polish again, those famous walnuts, tobacco, balsamic touches, amontillado, orange liqueur from some brand everyone forgot fifty years ago… Well, you see what I mean… Finish: wow wow wow wow…. Comments: to be tasted on a Sunday morning, after Mass, from a tiny glass, among friends. Nothing says you can’t refill that tiny glass several times. Sublime surprise, is this available in Europe?
SGP:452 - 91 points.

Hinomaru ‘The 1st Edition’ (48%, OB, 3,000 bottles, +/-2023)

A malt made by Kiuchi Brewery, which we don’t know, but then again, we know more about the breeding of domestic beavers in Manitoba than about the breweries of the world. Colour: pale gold. Nose: it’s fresh, yeasty, close to barley and apples, so certainly pleasant, even if it isn’t going to change the face of the whisky world, let alone the malt whisky world. Mouth: really good, although very slightly soapy at first, then developing along classic lines, almonds, apples, a little saltiness, beer… Finish: same, with a slightly sour and salty side right at the end. Comments: nothing to complain about, it may not be hugely distinctive, nor particularly exciting, but it’s very well made.
SGP:441 - 82 points.

Right, now we need to talk. Because the slightly mad but passionate people, unless it’s the other way round, at La Maison du Whisky (that’s Paris, baby) have just released a series of superstars from Nikka, namely Yoichi and Miyagikyo, at progressively older ages, which rather reminds us of what Springbank did with their Millennium series… well, thirty years ago. The seminal question, the cruel dilemma, is how to taste them: do we run through each distillery separately, Yoichi from youngest to oldest and then Miyagikyo, or do we pair the two distilleries at each age and work our way upwards together? I’m not sure I’m making myself clear, but we’ll go with the latter, since we believe time is the main ingredient in malt whisky. Even if the Chichibus and other grand Japanese whiskies we’ve just tasted rather contradict that assertion. But never mind, off we go, this is Whiskyfun and we do as we please…

I should also point out that while tasting this series we won’t look at the cask types, it’s more fun (and challenging) that way. We’ll add them to each whisky’s details afterwards, before we put all this online, you see.

Yoichi 10 yo 2015/2026 (63.1%, Artist by La Maison du Whisky, virgin oak puncheon, cask #148028, 471 bottles)

Colour: full gold. Nose: a cured ham sandwich, pata negra-style, with fresh bread, black pepper, fresh butter, and a generous splash of Scandinavian-style fir liqueur. Quite a massive amount of natural rubber too. With water: lupin, toasted sesame, roasted tea (hojicha), in short, very Japanese indeed. Mouth (neat): very punchy, very concentrated, rather resinous but never stifling, with lime and, above all, plenty of verbena and gentian. You couldn’t exactly say it’s dawdling along the way. With water: everything falls into place, verbena, yellow Chartreuse, roasted tea, small citrus fruits, but without the saltiness we so often find elsewhere. Finish: long, woody, but everything is nicely integrated. The aftertaste is distinctly smokier. Comments: some aspects remind me of the Yoichi ‘Woody & Vanillic’ that could be found at the distillery ten years ago, only better. Much better. Mind the amount of water, though, in fact I find that most great Japanese malts require you to be both precise and sparing with your favourite pipette.
SGP:463 - 89 points.

I find that heavily oaked Japanese whiskies aren’t quite like heavily oaked Scottish whiskies, the oak seems better integrated, more part of the profile, even when it’s still obvious in your glass. Quite remarkable, really… Anyway, enough amateur dendrology for today, let’s have one last expression today…

Miyagikyo 10 yo 2015/2026 (55.3%, Artist by La Maison du Whisky, recharred puncheon, cask #11621, 507 bottles)

We’ve often given Miyagikyo the narrowest of leads over Yoichi, but they say only fools never change their minds. Let’s see if today is the day… Colour: gold. Nose: nope, Miyagikyo keeps the lead. Perhaps tomorrow? Mango, figs, castor oil, fresh almonds, very ripe apples. That’s all, but it’s already huge, as the balance is perfect. With water: sheer class, little cider apples and mentholated lemon. Or rather lemon-mint. Mouth (neat): we’re getting a little of what we found in the Komagatake 22, those ripe mangoes, those notes of great white Burgundy, whitecurrants, very gentle mint, the faintest touch of artichoke, green walnuts, fresh tobacco… With water: strawberry cream. Is there anything more regressive than strawberry cream? Finish: rather delicate, strawberry, fir buds, thyme tea. Comments: this is very complex, ultimately less woody than the very fine Yoichi, and closer to a great white wine. After careful consideration, I’ll suggest Fonsalette blanc but make of that what you will. Cheers Emmanuel up there.
SGP:551 - 90 points.

Nothing says the older ones will be better. Age may have a surprise or two up its sleeve, as Methuselah used to say (S.!)… We’ll find out tomorrow, stay tuned.

Check the index of all Japanese whiskies we've tasted