Ichiro's Malt Double Distilleries 2021, Chichibu x Komagatake /53.5%/ 0.7l

Ichiro's Malt Double Distilleries, the creation of master Ichiro Akuto, honored in 2019 with the title of "Master Blender of the Year" by the judges of the International Spirit Challenge, has been released for several years, composed of Chichibu and Hanyu single malts.

The 2021 edition brought an epochal change in the habits of Japanese whisky producers, who do not use competitive products in their blends (which is a common practice in Scotland). Hence, companies such as Suntory and Nikka produce whiskies with a dozen (if not dozens) profiles. In April 2015, the Chichibu and Komagatake distilleries exchanged fresh distillates and matured them in their own warehouses; those used in the edition presented here were matured in Chichibu. This is the first (in our opinion) similar initiative, and the groundbreaking edition consisted of 10,200 bottles.

Nose : fresh, fruity, barley malt, apples, bananas, peaches, pineapples, coconut flakes, maple syrup, brown sugar, vanilla and a pinch of salt.

Taste: delicate, fruit again, ripe apples and peaches, grapes, greengages, toffee, vanilla, pralines, cappuccino, a bit of cinnamon and oak tannins.

Finish : quite long, initially fruity and sweet, soon revealing notes of oak tannins, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla.