Chichibu, 2011-2017, Ichiro's Malt The Game 7, Shinanoya Private Bottling 10th Anniversary, Madeira Hogshead No. 1370, 176/260, 61.3% abv.

Shinanoya released this Hanyu for their 10th Anniversary. It's the seventh bottle in The Game series, which was originally a series based on whisky distilled from Hanyu's last year of production. Label illustrations connect each of the bottles.

Nose: light vanilla, light spices, Korean pears with no sugar (無糖利), rum.

Palate: light body, initially sweet, mid palate has old steamed Boston lobster, seaweed, some vanilla in there too. Gets more spicey with time. Not sure where the madeira is.

Finish: medium to short, wood.

This madeira influenced Chichibu seems more like it was bourbon barrel influenced. More vanilla and indirect salt than spicey fruit. I'm definitely confused on this one.

Grade: B

Couldn't find quantifiable, reliable reviews.

Image courtesy of Eric Yee.

Eric Yee

🇭🇰 🇺🇸(LA, SF) -> 🇯🇵 (京都, 東京) -> 🇰🇷 (서울, 부산)