Style: Youthful, Sweet Orange and Vanilla
Nose:
Powerful spirit heat hitting the nose, peppermint surfing on top, while bright orange confectioneries chorusing full-throatedly at the core, vanilla cream settling in with bits of floral overtone. Rich and round aroma.
Palate:
Refreshingly sweet and crisp on the palate. Powerful heat pushes through, while orange drops flourish beautifully, peppermint and grassy notes fly high, vanilla brushes painting the side, a few floral blotches stacking up at the back. Still young with discrete white spirit signatures, liquorice roots, cereal malt, orange core reducing to bitters and citrus oil at the back.
Finish:
A final squeeze of citrus oil, orange notes integrating with peppermint and some vanilla oatmeal.
Thoughts:
I am really impressed with the completeness of the spirit given this is only a mere 3 years old. It’s still young, don’t get me wrong, but to me this feels more like a 7 – 9 years old Speysider. Honestly, I have totally forgotten about this bottle until I dig this out at the corner of my cabinet the other day, I guess it did not make a big impression on me back then (yet the bottle is suspiciously empty). Revisiting it now and compare with the current Chichibu gives me an interesting insight of how the distillate has developed overtime. Anyway, it is a young, bright and sweet Chichibu we have here.
✓ [Recommended if you like the style/ distillery]
[61.8% • Original Bottling • 2008 Distilled • 2011 Bottled • Aged 3 Years • Non Chill Filtered • Non Coloured • Matured in Bourbon Casks • 2588 of 7400 Bottles]
-Esmond
WhiskNick 