Why's it that monopolies and oligopolies aren't desirable, and to a lesser extent not very fun? When you have a couple of big fishes who've mostly entrenched their place in a market, there isn't really a whole lot of incentive to come up with new things - or innovation, as they call it.

For the past couple of decades, a couple of big whiskymakers have dominated the scene, although to their credit, I do think they've continued to systematically bring something new to the table every year - although I could also say that the Japanese consumer is an outlier in Asia for their discernment about what's good and what isn't; also domestic producers can never really feel too safe with the foreign whisky producing folks (namely the good people making Scotch and Bourbon) always on their heels.

Ichiro Akuto definitely was not what the big guys were expecting. (Image Source: Dekanta)

Regardless, new expressions have regularly made it to the market, yet nothing really set tongues wagging until Ichiro Akuto of Chichibu whisky fame came along. A small craft producer, he certainly was the stuff of nightmares for the major brands, punching so far above his weight, even Zeus over at Mount Olympus felt it. Chichibu's whiskies were fantastic, which you must imagine was terrifying knowing how little he had to work with and how entrenched the market was between the usual suspects, at the time he entered. 

And it has never been the same since - stirring a fire in a whole new generation of whisky producers that have just started to test their mettle, the likes of Kanosuke, Shizuoka, Nagahama, Saburomaru, Sakurao, just to name a few. Imagine the horror of the incumbents. It's like a bloody hydra - they just keep multiplying. And with each one of them comes more change, more experimentation, a dismantling of the institution and its norms. One of which is the practice of whisky swapping - which is exactly as the name suggests - two distilleries exchanging their whiskies. Social media influencers have certainly taken a leaf out of this age old practice with their collaborations and cross promotion; a quid pro quo with each bringing to the other new fans. You get the idea. The practice itself is fairly common with the Scotch folks, but in Japan, with two megalithic producers, who was realistically going to swap whiskies and what for? 

Takahiko of Saburomaru Distillery (Left) and Yahisa of Nagahama Distillery (Right) bringing to light the first whisky swap in Japan. (Image Source: Japanese-Whisky.com)

Which is why, when 34 year old Takahiko Inagaki, the youngest distillery manager in Japan, and also fifth generation chief of Saburomaru Distillery, announced the first whisky swap with Nagahama Distillery, what was a seemingly mundane exchange, was actually very much a sign of the times. And times are a'changing for the Japanese whisky scene.

Not to let young Takahiko hog all the fun, the godfather of Japanese craft whisky, Ichiro, was also to initiate a swap with Mars Whisky - the Komagatake x Chichibu Malt Duo was born. This collaboration saw the two whiskymakers blend and mature each other's whiskies in their own climate and environment, subsequently each bottling and releasing the blend in their respective iconic bottles.

(Image Source: Whiskimen)

This took place in 2015, with its release finally being realised in 2021, with two unique expressions being produced. What I have here is the blend that was aged at Mars' Shinshu site up in the Nagano Alps, bottled at 54% ABV, while the other expression, "Double Distilleries" was aged in the more unrelenting Chichibu site and bottled at 53% ABV. 

Mars Komagatake x Chichibu "Malt Duo" Blended Malt Japanese Whisky, 5 Year Old, 54% ABV - Review

Color: Olive Oil

On the nose: Apples jump right out - apple tea, concentrate, cider, peels; very intense punchy forms of apple. A more viscous maple syrup, honey, cinnamon, nutmeg, and of course, spiciness of ethanol. The heat dissipates quite quickly, clearing the way for us to proceed with less defenses. A scent of old grass, a sort of vegetal chlorophyll note. That said, it is still broadly very much of spiced honey.

On the palate: Very punchy, lots of spiciness coming through at first. This lets up little to give a more astringent bittersweet note of apple peels and apple cider, with a more present woodiness. Red chilies - very tingly. Watered down honey and peanut skins.

Finish: Still very warm. Where does the palate end and the finish begin? It goes on for quite a bit, a long finish. Although this gets sweeter with more honey and maltose coming through, a more confectionary candied apple, saltwater Laffy Taffy, a very nice hit of sea spray. The woodiness is much more restrained here.

My Take

Did I maybe have exceptionally high expectations for this given the cooks behind the broth? Likely so. Unfortunately this didn't quite hit the spot for me. For the consistency it showed from nose to palate and finish, it also lacked complexity, but brought out a lot of heat - which seemed to be the defining feature here. Some of the classic Chichibu and Mars notes were intact - apples, sea salt, chillis, but aside from that I don't particularly see how this was any improvement over what Chichibu or Mars themselves have to offer from their own releases.

I do wonder if this was because both single malts have strong distinctive characteristics that simply don't fill each other's gaps well and as a result ended up with less and perhaps even more discordant that what we've come to appreciate from the two whiskymakers. The idea was great in theory but practically speaking it didn't seem to bode too well. Perhaps the combination of a grain whisky might have helped or simply more than just the two single malts. You can't just have two lead singers without some backup singers to harmonise.

Kanpai!

@111hotpot