Whisky: Chichibu 9 Year SMWS 130.5 “Harmonious as a barbershop quartet”

Country/Region: Japan

ABV: 58.8%

Cask: First Fill Bourbon Barrel (3Y), Imperial Stout Barrel (6Y)

Age: 9 Year (Distilled 16 April 2011)

Nose: Chocolate, plums, and pinewood, arboreal and earthy, apricots, blackstrap molasses, malted milk balls, more sweet-sour umeshu with time.

Palate: Full-bodied and punchy with chocolate, cinnamon, honey, white pepper, salted plums and key lime, peppery-sweet shiso leaf and blackstrap molasses lingered at the end with subtle malted milk candy and sandalwood.

Finish: Long and lingering with sweet spice and molasses.

Score: 8

Mental Image: Secret Forest Gnome Milkshake Joint

Narrative & Notes: The aroma was rich and intensely arboreal, lending the impression of walking through a pinewood forest with fragrant earthy humus, dried pine needles, and herbal tea. Chocolate slowly took over after a wave of blackstrap molasses and malted milk balls as mocha and cocoa-dusted salted plums appeared with the sweet-sour duality of umeshu. The palate was punchy and rich as everything hit all at once: umeshu and cinnamon, clover honey and white pepper, dark chocolate and fruit. Salted plums lingered through peppery-sweet shiso leaf notes, which gradually took over (and seemed more prominent on each tasting session). An underlying thread of chocolate malted milk candies and sandalwood linked together the different layers and lingered at the end. The finish was long with sweet spice and molasses.

Wow; absolutely incredible. Punchy yet subtle with well-structured layers of flavor that slowly developed on the nose and across the palate. The influence of the Mizunara wash-backs was apparent across the nose, though fainter on the palate. At the same time, the imperial stout cask gave the fruity Chichibu malt a lovely layer of chocolate and mocha.

Enjoyed during two recent local whisky club tastings, it was voted hands-down the best of the night each time. There was a lot of debate over what came in second, but Chichibu as best of the evening was unanimous.