In this new collection of four single cask Chichibu whiskies, artist Yoshiya Hongo and Michelin-starred chef Shinichi Sato have collaborated with French spirits distributor and retailer La Maison du Whisky to explore new dimensions of art and taste.

For each expression, Hongo was invited to create an original work of art inspired by the tasting notes of Sato who helms the Parisian Restaurant Blanc. Using abstract aluminium sculptures, Hongo is said to have translated the aromatic and taste profiles of the four whiskies as selected and tasted by Sato, including a peated and unpeated duo aged in Bourbon barrel, a third aged in Oloroso Sherry, and the last being aged in a local cider cask. 

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Artist Yoshiya Hongo and Michelin Chef of Restaurant Blanc Shinichi Sato.

Hongo then travelled to Chichibu Distillery in Japan's Saitama Prefecture to photograph the dedicated sculptures within the distillery itself. Each photograph depicts the four artworks in front of the constituent elements of Chichibu's single malt: barley, the spirit's raw material; fire, used for toasting the barrels; the earth of the cellars; and the sky, symbolizing the angels' share. This was thus a unique encounter between whisky, sculpture and gastronomy, which was named Wake of Silence, celebrating the art of tasting.

Chichibu 7 Years Old 2017 Heavily Peated, 65.4% ABV

Single Cask #8282, First Fill Bourbon Barrel, Limited Edition of 176 Bottles

Made from the Odyssey barley variety and aged in a first-fill bourbon barrel, this version has a phenolic content of 50 ppm. Its nuanced aromatic and flavor palette features a peat that fully expresses fruity, floral, and herbaceous tones brimming with vitality and freshness.

Official Tasting Notes

Color: Deep Golden Yellow.

Aroma: Both rich and refined. Initially, notes of smoke and peat delicately envelop lemony and herbaceous aromas (mint, dandelion). With aeration, strong spices (black pepper, cloves), mustard seeds, and barley grains highlight the medicinal and malty character of the aromatic palette.

Taste: Full-bodied, silky. Remarkably balanced, the taste palette is at once peaty, oily, malty, chocolatey, and even fruity (pear, mirabelle plum). Then, more floral (jasmine, broom) and honeyed flavors deeply and sweetly permeate the taste buds.

Finish: Long, fresh. A very nice evolution herbaceous (green barley) and infused (oregano, sage) provide a lot of dynamism to the finish, which features a more diaphanous peat. On retro-olfaction, flavors of black tea coat the palate with their fine tannins.

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Chichibu 7 Years Old 2017 Cider Cask, 61.4% ABV

Single Cask #14329, Cider Cask, Limited Edition of 219 Bottles

Made from the Venture barley variety, this version, aged in a cask that previously contained cider, is particularly extroverted. Overflowing with fruit and bursting with noble spices, its aromatic and palate reaches its peak by perfectly recreating, long afterward, the warm atmosphere of a malting floor.

Official Tasting Notes

Color: Deep Old Gold.

Aroma: ample, elegant. Nobly spicy (pink pepper, cinnamon) and rooty (gentian), the aromatic palette evolves towards increasingly fruity (ripe apple), gourmet (tarte tatin), and finely toasted (toast, rusk) tones.

Taste: Lively, slender. Baskets of apples freshly picked, the aromas literally pour over the entire palate. This extremely invigorating and overflowing with freshness then evolves into increasingly autumnal notes (dried leaves, chestnut) and licorice.

Finish: Long, silky. Enhanced by the presence of noble spices (nutmeg, clove), the finish is in turn remarkably fresh (fermenting apple juice). Full of naturalness, the retro-olfaction takes us to the middle of a malting floor.

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Chichibu 8 Years Old 2017 Bourbon Barrel, 64.3% ABV

Single Cask #7492, First Fill Bourbon Barrel, Limited Edition of 171 bottles

Aged in a first-fill bourbon barrel, this third version of the series naturally embodies the Chichibu style. Constantly gaining height, its aromatic and flavor palette offers a succession of malty, fruity, honeyed, spicy, herbaceous, and even exotic sequences, each more beautiful than the last.

Official Tasting Notes

Color: Bright Gold.

Aroma: Both fresh and deep. Behind an initial malty and lemony sequence, fresh fruit (pear, apple, grape) and almond aromas take over the entirety of a particularly concentrated aromatic palette. This elegantly extends into notes of wax, linden honey, and bay leaf.

Taste: Clean, racy. Tenderly vanilla and malty (barley grain), the taste palette naturally follows the perfect continuity of the nose. Increasingly voluble, it then ventures into wonderfully tropical (pineapple, banana, yellow kiwi) and spicy (ginger, nutmeg) regions.

Finish: Complex, dynamic. Impressively long, the finish is particularly indulgent (flan, mirabelle plum tart). Then, over time, flavors of coconut milk and absinthe intermingle in a most complicit and harmonious way. Magnificent.

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Chichibu 10 Year Old 2014 Sherry Cask, 62.3% ABV

Single Cask #10416, Oloroso Sherry Cask Finish, Limited edition of 246 bottles

The latest opus in the series, this radiantly mature single cask is a magnificent link between Japan and Andalusia. With its refined classicism, each note is transcribed with rare precision, and its chromatic range displays a particularly shimmering shade of orange.

Official Tasting Notes

Color: Orangey Copper.

Aroma: Straight, precise. Aromas of bitter orange, walnuts, roasting, candied apricot, and precious wood (sandalwood) underline the extremely noble and complex character of the aromatic palette. This evolves towards more vinous and oxidative tones, thus highlighting the beautiful influence of the oloroso sherry.

Taste: Full-bodied, deep. Wonderfully powdery (rice, cocoa), the texture of the palate delicately evolves towards increasingly tertiary (coffee, Armenian paper), honeyed (heather, linden), and empyreumatic (incense, polish, apricot kernel) registers.

Finish: Long, fluffy. Flavors of currant and dried fig further accentuate the deep maturity of the taste palette, which then invites us to savor licorice stick and smell aromas of beeswax.

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Kanpai!

88 Bamboo Editorial Team