We're back with another Chichibu from Salud Spirits over in Netherlands and Austria - this one's from the cult Japanese distillery's Ichiro's Malt & Grain label, which is a world blend that's put together by Ichiro Akuto, the distillery's founder. Here Salud has taken it one step further and gotten this blend aged for an additional 3.5 years in Bordeaux red wine casks from Chateau Gruaud Larose, a very veritable Second Growth! That's mighty impressive! Fun fact: the winery's own motto is "Le Roi des Vins, Le Vin des Rois" which translates as "the wine of Kings, and the King of wines", and was given to the Chateau as it was incredibly popular with French royalty at the time!

Chateau Gruaud Larose no less!

And as for Salud Spirits, the famous Dutch and Austrian distributor has an impressive record of several very high profile Chichibu series which speaks to their relationship with the distillery, some of which have been the Intergalactic series and the 7 Gods of Fortune series.

Now this Chateau Gruaud Larose wine single cask world blend is part of Salud's new Spirits of Salud series, and has been bottled at 59.8% ABV, and is limited to just 272 bottles. As you'll see with the Spirits of Salud series, each one of them thus far has featured an angel interacting with its whisky. Here the angel is said to be "reading the pages of life that would resonate with the world of Chichibu whisky".

Let's give this a go! 

Whisky Review: Chichibu Ichiro's Malt & Grain Chateau Gruaud Larose Wine Single Cask Blended Whisky, Spirits of Salud by Salud Spirits, 59.8% ABV

Tasting Notes

Colour: Deep Amber

Aroma: Dark and heavy on incredibly rich brown sugar, maltose candy, accompanied by heady notes of black grapes and grape gummies. At the same time there’s buttery graham crumble poached and spiced pears, apricot tarts and fig pastries. Some brighter outlines of oranges and green apples, filled in with more raisins and with also some light mustiness of lacquered wood. Incredibly rich, aromatic and fruit driven.

Taste: It’s immediately punchy as Chichibu does, yet quickly mellows out into a rich body of brown sugar and black grapes. There’s some woodiness here too of exotic woods and aged woods, that gives it a nice contrast that’s almost evocative of a freshly dumped glass of wine right from out the barrel. Some sparks of black pepper too, as well as some herbal qualities of eucalyptus and cough syrup that backs it all up.

Finish: Has a slightly more yogurt-y quality here, with a deep long warmth. With time more savouriness of charcuterie oils, slight saltiness of Jamon Iberico. Some subtle hits of black grape gummies continue to come through.

My Thoughts

The richness here is really something else! On the nose, I was almost fooled to think this was a heady Demerara rum, if only tapped in the right direction by the big juicy black grapes and grape gummies that develops into more on fruit pastries and pies. Absolutely aromatic and fruit driven on the nose, great freshness and concentration as well.

On the palate, the wine has certainly made its mark on the whisky, again the freshness is really what gets me, and it's easy to miss given the bigger bolder flavours of brown sugar and black grapes, yet belying that is a subtle foundation of rich and herbal syrup. The finish brings more tartness and savouriness, which switches things up and conveys more complexity, before heading back into black grape gummies.

A very unique side of Chichibu's Malt & Grain that we don't see so much of! It's rich and fruit driven, yet at the same time really giving something quite special - this wine cask has definitely done a good job here! I find this thoroughly interesting and very tasty, something that's attention grabbing I should say. And of course, this has avoided any pitfalls of wine casks wherein it gets zingy or tannic - here it's fresh and powerful, yet hasn't completely taken over the whisky. A really well executed combination!

Kanpai!

@111hotpot