It's incredibly commendable that even into its 16th anniversary, the cult Japanese whisky distiller that is Chichibu, continues to demonstrate this level-headed adherence to keeping focused on improving and evolving their whiskies into the future. The On The Way expression, now in its 4th iteration (previously released in 2019, 2015 and most notably in 2013 as one of the distillery's first official bottlings), is exactly designed to signal that commitment to maintaining its perspective and "always show(ing) our passage towards the future".

What's nevertheless unique here is that unlike the past 3 releases, the 2024 release is produced with traditional floor malted barley, which is an incredibly laborious process where barley is laid out on concrete floors and raked by hand, facilitating its malting where starch is turned into fermentable sugars, which is then mashed, fermented and then distilled. The process whilst regaining some popularity with artisanal producers as of late, has still remained largely uncommon as it requires much time, effort and space, but yet is said to produce more rustic flavours that highlight the characteristics of the barley more prominently. The floor malted barley used here was specially made by Chichibu's own team in the UK with the help of malt supplier Maltster.

Today we give the new 2024 Chichibu On The Way Floor Malted a taste! Let's go! 

PS. This was hand carried by Chichibu Distillery's one and only brand ambassador Yumi who brought this along as part of a masterclass that was organised by La Maison du Whisky Singapore - so be sure that it'll pop up over there hopefully soon!

Whisky Review: Chichibu On The Way Floor Malted 2024

Tasting Notes

Colour: Deep Gold

Aroma: It opens up rich and sweet, with red apples topped with honey, along with a good serving of maltose candy. With time it continues to brighten to give fresh white peaches, peach gummies and candied apricots. It's candied and mellow, incredibly plush, perfumed and fruity, much like walking through a fruit orchard or a fruity gummy store. Great rich and fruity aromas here! There's a slight doughy lactic sourness here as well.

Taste: More of that apple and honey, that characteristic Chichibu spiciness comes through as well. It's medium-bodied, yet here it's rather unique in how supple it is, almost like a rich apple and peach syrup. It's fresh and fruity, almost bouncy and chewy. Again, there's alittle bit of that lactic doughy sourness that also tends towards yogurt gummies.

Finish: The apples and peaches persists, here taking a more savoury aspect to it, some light touches of grilled meats, yet still keeping that deep maltose sweetness at its core. It's a long and clean finish, with those fruity aromatics staying on. 

My Thoughts

For a start this truly stood out from other Chichibu expressions with just how soft and supple it was, in both texture and flavour, it almost had like a gummy or syrup quality to it, that was both incredibly fruity yet plush at the same time, with an almost chew softness and richness to it. This was on top of the fact that this was incredibly orchard fruit led, with big notes of apples at the front and white peaches at the base, alongside candied notes of honey and maltose. Unlike other Chichibu's which tend to come off more angular and precise, this was softer around the outline, more rounded and also more evocative.

As mentioned, it's also more fruity and candied than its siblings, which altogether makes it not just a refreshing addition to the Chichibu tapestry that gives fans something different, but is also one that I found to be very enjoyable and is probably my favourite of Chichibu's distillery bottlings so far! It's sweeter, rounder and more approachable, with more of a mellowness even with its concentrated and rich flavours. It's also said to be the most aged of Chichibu's own expressions so far, coming in at somewhere between 8 to 15 years old.

Kanpai!

@111hotpot