What you need to know:

• Chichibu releases sixth iteration of its The Peated bottling, due to be released in late February 2022.
• Total of 11,000 bottles to be released, bottled at 53% ABV.
• Tasting Notes below!
• We thoroughly enjoyed the 2018 edition that gave us a combination of all the things we love Chichibu for, but with an added earthy, umami dimension of woodland mushrooms and black truffles, and smoked ham.
• Cop the Drop or Not: Hard Cop  

(Image Source: Sasesaketen)

Chichibu's core range has been limited to say the lease, not just in quantities produces for the bottles in the line-up, but even the line-up itself is relatively sparse on account of Chichibu Distillery's small scale production as a craft distillery, at least until more of their second distillery's output comes of age.

Yet, one of the longest running labels in the core range is Chichibu's The Peated bottling, now in it's sixth iteration to be released in late February 2022.

The Peated was first released in 2012 and then subsequently in 2013, 2015, 2016 and then the last time it was released was in 2018 for the 10th anniversary of the Chichibu Distillery. As the iterations rolled on, thankfully so did the number of bottles released and also the age statements!

So far, there doesn't seem to be any indication of how old this bottling will be just yet, but it is said that a total of 11,000 bottles will be released, which is comparable to the 11,500 bottles last released for the 2018 10th anniversary bottling, which was also a 5 year old aged malt whisky.

The 2022 bottling will be retailed at 14,850 JPY or 130 USD. It is bottled at 53% ABV.

Tasting Note

This product is a peated type single malt whiskey prepared at the Chichibu Distillery.

Since the malt is dried using peat (peat) in the malting work, it has become a smoky and strong raw liquor.

Sweet and light custard cream, fruity that slips on the surface.

The aroma that spreads in the mouth is reminiscent of soft black tea, and the overall impression continues to change over time.

The release was first announced by Japanese liquor shop Sasesaketen.

Our Take

We thoroughly enjoyed the 2018 release and we expect this to hold up just as well, though of course one can only hope to see an even longer aged expression this time.

What was particularly enjoyable about the Chichibu The Peated bottlings is the grilled fruits that we often found on the palate, as well as the rich malty notes on the nose. It had all the richness of Chichibu's malt whisky with a more accentuated floral component, velvety honey, lemon zest and chalk, but with an added earthy, umami, mushroom/truffle/smoked ham dimension, that was just chock full of complexity.

That said, at these prices, don't be surprised that even with 11,000 bottles to be released, it is not gonna be easy in the slightest to pick one up.

Cop the Drop or Not Verdict: Hard Cop

If you enjoyed reading about the Chichibu The Peated 2022, you'll probably enjoy these:

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Kanpai!

@111hotpot