Chichibu : The Peated 2026 Edition

Characteristics and Tasting Tips for Chichibu The Peated 2026

Tasting

Appearance

Brilliant gold.

Nose

The nose opens with elegant smoke, accompanied by kumquat, almond and cinnamon. It then gains depth with notes of granola and burnt caramel, a hint of cocoa and a salty touch reminiscent of dried meat.

Palate

The attack is indulgent, driven by honey and toffee. A basket of fruit follows, with grapefruit, apple and banana. The mid-palate brings fresh mint and peppery ginger. The finish, soft and fluid, lets the smoke linger alongside fresh herbs, aromatics and a final touch of orangette.

Other characteristics

This whisky is heavily peated, at around 50 ppm. It is bottled at 50.5% ABV in a 70 cl format and presented in a gift box. It is produced without an age statement, non-chill filtered and without artificial colouring.

A rich and indulgent Japanese whisky from Chichibu

Chichibu, a craft distillery at the heart of Japanese whisky

Founded in 2008 by Ichiro Akuto in Saitama Prefecture, the Chichibu distillery has established itself as one of the benchmarks of craft Japanese whisky. It belongs to Venture Whisky, a company created in 2004 by Ichiro Akuto, who remains its chairman and CEO as well as its master blender. Coming from a family of sake brewers and shochu distillers, he pursues the ideal of a 100% Japanese whisky. Everything is produced on site: fermentation in mizunara (Japanese oak) washbacks and distillation in small pot stills. In time, certain cuvées will use local barley and peat as well as Japanese oak. A second site, Chichibu II, is equipped with direct-fired stills. This technique, livelier and more delicate to master, brings richness, structure and depth.

Chichibu The Peated 2026: the return of a heavily peated Japanese single malt

Chichibu The Peated 2026 is a single malt whisky. It is the house's first peated release since 2022, after a four-year wait.

This edition brings together more than 40 casks of heavily peated whisky, at around 50 ppm. Maturation is mainly in first-fill bourbon casks. It is complemented by oloroso sherry casks and hogsheads, reassembled by hand in the distillery's cooperage.

It is part of Chichibu's series of peated expressions, which come from the annual period the distillery devotes to producing peated malt. It is bottled without an age statement, at 50.5% ABV, without chill filtration or artificial colouring. It is offered in a 70 cl bottle, in a gift box.