Chichibu Archives - More drams, less drama

Chichibu 2011 (2021)

9th December 20229th December 2022Coldorak

Another Chichibu on More Drams. I know, life is hard, poor me, having to try these very hyped Japanese whiskies. Anyway. We’re back to Ichiro Akuto’s distillery, this time with a 9-year-old bourbon-matured Chichibu. As you know, Chichibu is a Japanese whisky distillery that was founded in 2008 by Ichiro Akuto, the grandson of the founder of the Hanyu distillery. The distillery has gained a reputation for producing high-quality whiskies using traditional Japanese production methods, and for aging its whiskies for shorter periods of time than is typical in the industry. This has led to a high level of interest and hype around Chichibu and its whiskies, as whisky enthusiasts appreciate the unique flavours and aromas that Chichibu’s whiskies offer. Additionally, the limited production of Chichibu’s whiskies has made them highly sought after, which has only added to the hype around the distillery. So today, thanks to my friend Benjamin who this year again provided me with a great advent calendar, we’re trying another Chichibu, distilled in 2011.

Chichibu 2011 The Peated (2015)

3rd December 20223rd December 2022Coldorak

If you remember, last year’s advent calendar opening dram was the 2018 edition of Chichibu The Peated. This year we find another Chichibu The Peated, but an earlier edition, and this time behind the second window. We already reviewed a couple of Chichibus here so I won’t get into the distillery history again, but jump directly to the Chichibu 2011 The Peated (2015) review.

Chichibu On The Way

17th December 202117th December 2021Coldorak

We’re back to Japan for another Chichibu tonight, we’re racking up hundreds of miles of travel from one country to another with this Advent Calendar! Not sure our CO₂ emissions are very high, though, since all this travel has been purely virtual and in my Glencairn glasses! Anyway. Though Chichibu is a very young distillery, its owner Ichiro Akuto comes from a very long tradition of alcohol making, since the family produced sake then shochu since 1625 in Chichibu. The family founded Hanyu distillery in the 1980s, bringing water from Chichibu by truck, before the whisky market collapsed and Hanyu closed down in 2000. Then as I said in my Chichibu The Peated review, Ichiro Akuto founded Chichibu in 2007, and tonight we’re trying a Chichibu On The Way bottled in 2019.

Chichibu The Peated 2018

1st December 20212nd December 2021Coldorak

We’re the first of December! While December means cold, wet or snowy weather depending on where you live, it also has more festive connotations with Christmas or other end-of-year festive events, and for many people from the 1st to the 24th of December: advent calendars! As the few years before, I’m doing a whisky advent calendar. This year again I couldn’t get a Boutique-y Whisky Advent Calendar (I reviewed one with Ainulindale in 2019) or another one from Drinks by the Dram, but Benjamin, a member of a French Whisky Discord server I’m a member of, and who spends probably way more than me on whisky, offered to do for a few of us our very own ultra limited whisky advent calendar. Five of us members ordered him one, gladly paid 300€ for 25 samples (yep, we have an extra one for Christmas!), and all we know is that the bottles used for the samples go from 150€ to 800€ a bottle… All the samples are just labelled with a number, and each day Benjamin gives us a hint or two in order for us to guess what it is. But first, where do advent calendars come from?