Distilled: 2010 - Bottle: 2451 - Outturn: 6700 - ABV: 53.5% - PPM: 59.6
Nose: Really clean earthy peat, drums of reaped barley/grist, ashy oak, wood chips, grease guns, brine, fresh licorice, and farmyard/sheep shed like qualities: shorn wool. Then, there's wheat biscuits and a pleasant malty milky aroma. From here PVC (blow-up toys) was present along with heavy, unforgettable aromas of a Japanese medicine called Seirogan (check here). Past all the above attributes lovely light fruits emerge at intervals: lemon and berry like qualities. With water sweet peat (smoked honey).
Taste: Elegant earthy peat, coal smoke, spicy black olives, smoked bacon cubes, a tad salty, rich wheat biscuits, herbs, and eucalyptus. Water allows brine, smoke, and cigar leaf to interact before moving on to the unforgettable taste of Seirogan. Water mellows the creosote like qualities and builds up the spice, natural earthy peat, cigar leaf, and adds Dutch licorice and again smoked honey?
Finish: Fresh herbal licorice and smoked bacon cubes, salt and pepper, eucalyptus candy. Evident Seirogan (unfortunately only those who have actually digested this will associate the comparison), mouth clinging ashy oak, and cigar leaf. Peated grapefruit sprinkled with brown sugar when diluted. Long and warm.
Comment: Your taste buds beg for more. Very well balanced and complex for its age. As soon as I can afford it I'm going to march down to the shops and get another bottle. I'd love to compare this to a much older version of 'The Peated' in years to come. Although The Peated 2012 bottling (here) was exceptional, if I had to choose my personal favourite it would be the second release.
This was extremely interesting to read, Clint.
ReplyDeleteMay I ask if this was on your target list or whether you simply stumbled upon it?
Well done!
Hi Pierre, I have bought every official Chichibu bottling so far - it is so hard not to with such quality given the age therefore, certainly not something that I stumbled upon. It has become a religious thing - buy and review every release (to date 7 releases). I guess it all depends on health and finances if I can continue to do so in the future. I still have yet to open and review The First. Cheers.
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