Chichibu – Aged 10 Years (70cl, 50.5%)

Chichibu Aged 10 Years is a Japanese single malt from the Chichibu distillery, which was founded in 2008 by Ichiro Akuto. It follows The First Ten, the distillery's oldest official bottling when it appeared in 2020, and carries a new label design with the line "The Artisan Distillery Est. 2008". It is bottled at 50.5% ABV in a 70cl bottle. The distillery ferments in vats made of mizunara, a Japanese oak, and distils in small stills. The colour is deep gold approaching amber. The nose has creamy honey, melted vanilla and loquat, pineapple and pink grapefruit, with a faint wisp of smoke. On the palate come candied orange peel, red currants, wild strawberries and yellow peach, and the finish is long, with grapefruit zest, malt and white pepper.