What You Need To Know:

• Mandarin Oriental Tokyo has announced a bottling chosen specially for the iconic hotel, from Ichiro's Malt & Grain line, a world blended whisky (not a first for Ichiro's) matured in wine barrels from the Saint-Emilion region of France's legendary Bordeaux vineyards (a first for Ichiro's).
• Tasting Notes: “From the rising scent, you can feel the soft sweetness of honey, vanilla, and orangette, with a refreshing impression reminiscent of flavored vegetables and mint, and an elegant tannin feeling like cassis and tea candy. Gives an accent to the whole. A blended whiskey with a rich and firm taste that can be enjoyed with a small amount of water.”
• This will be made available on 7 January, 2022, at the Mandarin Oriental Tokyo’s own Mandarin Bar (37^th Floor) and the Oriental Lounge (38^th Floor), limited to only 287 bottles, going for 66,000 Yen (or 580 USD / 440 GBP).
• The label is also wonderfully designed featuring the Ukiyo-e of Nihonbashi, where the hotel has been located, and historically renown Ukiyo-e artist Hiroshige Utagawa’s “Tokaido Goho Sanjinouchi / Nihonbashi Gyoreshi” art, and of course, the Mandarin Oriental Tokyo’s emblem.

 (Image Source: Mandarin Oriental Tokyo)

"This time, as a single cask of Mandarin Oriental Tokyo, World Blended (a blend of whiskey from the world's five major production areas) was post-ripened in a barrel of red wine from the first special grade A chateau. It is a whiskey created with great confidence as a blender that values ​​individuality. I would like everyone who likes whiskey to taste it. "

– Ichiro Akuto, Founder of Chichibu Distillery

Japanese whiskies don’t need any more hype than they already have. I almost feel like the mere mention of a distillery like Chichibu carries with it such strong emotions that the name alone is sufficient to inspire unintentional salivation in fans worldwide.

But if you really want to know what the very fabric of hype is, and perhaps one of Japanese whiskies’ best kept secrets, possessing a devout cult of collectors, look no further than bottles released by iconic hotels in Tokyo, the likes of The Peninsula, the Grand Hyatt, and the Mandarin Oriental.

Just a couple of bottlings that have probably caused nightmares for hotel staff but have gone on to achieve icon status. (Image Source: Kuva, Forbes) 

This year, the Mandarin Oriental Tokyo has announced a bottling of Ichiro’s Malt & Grain selected specially for the historical hotel. It consists of a world blend of whiskies from the five major whisky producing regions (Scotland, Japan, US, Canada, Ireland), not a first for Ichiro’s, but this time, the blended whisky has been aged in wine barrels from the Saint-Emilion chateaus of the Bordeaux region, home to France’s most legendary vineyards – a first for Ichiro’s.

Official Tasting Notes

 

“From the rising scent, you can feel the soft sweetness of honey, vanilla, and orangette, with a refreshing impression reminiscent of flavored vegetables and mint, and an elegant tannin feeling like cassis and tea candy. Gives an accent to the whole. A blended whiskey with a rich and firm taste that can be enjoyed with a small amount of water.”

This will be made available on 7 January, 2022, at the Mandarin Oriental Tokyo’s own Mandarin Bar (37^th Floor) and the Oriental Lounge (38^th Floor), limited to only 287 bottles, going for 66,000 Yen (or 580 USD / 440 GBP). 

Perhaps the most famous Ukiyo-e painting of all, some of you might find this familiar (perhaps a tattoo you got when you were obsessed with Japan). Ukiyo-e, which translates as "pictures of the floating world", is a popular 17th - 19th century art form in Japan based on woodblock prints that sought to capture the zeitgeist of the hedonistic Edo period. (Image Source: Wikipedia)

The label is also wonderfully designed featuring the Ukiyo-e of Nihonbashi, where the hotel has been located, and historically renown Ukiyo-e artist Hiroshige Utagawa’s “Tokaido Goho Sanjinouchi / Nihonbashi Gyoreshi” art, and of course, the Mandarin Oriental Tokyo’s emblem.

Our Take

Does it even matter? This is going to sell out faster than hot cakes. I certainly feel a twinge of sympathy for the devout following of Tokyo’s hotel whisky releases – it just gets harder every year, and the pain of missing out a bottle from the collection grows ever so sharply year on year.

If you're looking for rabbit holes to jump into, the Kiyosato Field Ballet bottlings are another highly specific set of bottlings with a devout cult following that you can look into. (Image Source: Mizunara)

That aside, the world blend itself is nothing wild, but the wine barrel aging certainly is a first, so there certainly is something unique to this bottling aside from the obvious hype. Though that said, Ichiro’s has no shortfall of firsts when it comes to casks used to age whiskies. The artwork on the label is certainly aesthetically gorgeous as well. Like I said, this is the stuff of unintentional salivation.

Good luck and happy hunting to those hoping to get your hands on a bottle!

PS. If you can find one and actually uncork it, please tag us on Instagram or Facebook, and I will offer you my deepest of admiration for your balls of steel.

If you liked Ichiro’s Malt & Grain, Saint-Emilion Cask, Mandarin Oriental Tokyo 2022, you’ll probably like these too:

• The story of how the little Chichibu distillery came to be the most sought after Japanese whisky in the world
• Ichiro's Malt, Double Distilleries – Review
• Ichiro’s Malt and Mars Swaps Whiskies, Now Jointly Releases Blended Malt Bottlings

Kanpai!

@111hotpot