"In my face, there are many faces... And the world too, has many faces."

– Aki Kuroda

Four bottlings of Chichibu Single Malt from the new Antipodes Collection have been unveiled in La Maison du Whisky's latest creation catalogue – bottled from four different cask styles with very different temperaments.

The Chichibu Antipodes Collection comprises a set of four bottlings, each featuring an artistic self-portrait of Paris-based Japanese artist Aki Kuroda, well known for known for his silhouettes and figures painted with line strokes that resemble a passage through a labyrinth. Each piece of art has been chosen by LMDW to adorn these exclusive Chichibu bottlings.

Aki Kuroda

Kuroda's self portraits illustrate the several different facets of a single persona. The artist recalls the Japanese ancestral tradition of masks while at the same time affirming a very expressive modernity, in a style that verges on abstraction. They reflect an identity that is resolutely contemporary and yet nourished by tradition. 

Apart from vibrantly coloured self-portraits on the bottle labels, a second series of self-portraits produced with oil on paper (see page on right) has been chosen to illustrate the labels of the first of each numbered bottle in the range. These four bottles and the original paintings that inspired their labels will be sold at auction and the proceeds donated to an undisclosed philanthropic cause. 

Autoportrait V, Autoportrait VI, Autoportrait VII, Autoportrait VIII by Aki Kuroda 

“My artworks are always the result of a meeting, a chance encounter, a detail that struck me or a face that inspired me... These self-portraits are in part reminiscences of the Minotaure magazine which I saw as a child in my father’s house, a Surrealist magazine published in Paris in the 1930s. I have been obsessed with the figure of the Minotaur ever since. Its features are mixed with mine. I don’t see anything monstrous in it. It’s simply a game for me to overlay them.

- Aki Kuroda on his artistic inspiration

The Chichibu Antipodes Collection

Just as a single persona could have multiple facets, the Antipodes Collection bottlings demonstrate how Chichibu's knowhow and four unique cask styles can produce very different temperaments of a single creative spirit - one especially surprising cask having previously held a wine made from a Japanese grape variety!   

Chichibu 8 YO 2013 Virgin Oak - 61% ABV

Single Cask #2856 - Virgin Oak Barrel (LMDW exclusive) 

This 8-year-old Chichibu 8 YO is produced with Concerto barley - distilled in 2013 and matured exclusively in virgin oak. It demonstrates distinguished notes of polish, spices and heady florals, but also a perfect balances of these element on the nose, palate and finish.

This has an outturn of 196 bottles.

Chichibu 6 YO 2015 Heavily Peated - 63.9% ABV

Previous iterations of peated Chichibu Single Malts introduced fans to ephemeral peat. Now, the Antipodes Collection introduces fans to a heavily peated iteration produced from heavily peated Concerto barley. This is said to immediately plunge drinkers into an intensely earthy, medicinal, marine and malty universe. And yet, the incredibly mature palette of flavours and aromas also reveals numerous fruity, herbaceous, floral and honeyed sequences that not only bring lots of depth but also continually raise the level of the tasting.

This has an outturn of 197 bottles.

Chichibu 8 YO 2013 Chichibu Wine Cask - 61% ABV 

 Single Cask #9664 - Japanese Wine Cask (LMDW Exclusive)

One of the most interesting expressions from the Chichibu catalogue, this is produced from 4 different varieties of barley (Braemar, Concerto, Tipple and Propino) in 2013, then aged in a cask that previously held Japanese wine produced from the Koshu grapes produced by a winery nearby the Chichibu Distillery.

With incredible originality and boldness, right from the start of the tasting, it has no qualms in venturing into the world of gin to take on a deeply invigorating herbaceous freshness. It then paces up and down the slopes of vines to bring shine and depth to the fruity, floral and spicy nuances of its flavour and aroma palette.

This is limited to 210 bottles.

Chichibu 7 YO 2014 Peated Cask - 64.3% ABV

Single Cask #3812 - 2nd Fill Bourbon Barrel (LMDW exclusive)

Produced with unpeated Concerto barley, newmake is then matured in a cask previously used for storing heavily peated Chichibu single malt. The result is a whisky that takes a devilish pleasure in throwing us off track, the palette of flavours and aromas is linked together by slightly camphoric, resinous, salty and earthy sequences. With incredible nuance, throughout the tasting it takes us on the trail of an evanescent peat that anticipates the Chichibu 2014 Heavily Peated (See expression above).

This has an outturn of 187 bottles.

@CharsiuCharlie