Nose: Some alluring notes here under the expected alcohol prickle (it is 60.5% after all). Takes a long, long time to open up at full strength. Eventually I got some hot-buttered toast, malt loaf, raisins. Develops some very nutty aromas - hazelnut, almond, walnut whips. Old seasoned wood - more than you'd expect for a whisky of such relative youth.
Nose with water: Much more genial and approachable, naturally. Strong notes of polished wood, and waves of very clean malt, with a hint of briar / berries. Again, more noticeable wood influence than expected.
Palate: Big nuttiness to the fore, but again, at full strength the alcohol is almost too much to handle. This definitely needs a drop or two of water.
(With water): Woody and peppery, with dried apricots, lingering spices, nuts and a hint of tweed.
Finish: Pretty hot at full strength. Water tames it but it remains very long, with hot, lingering chilli pepper and woody spices.
Comment: A real curio. For a young whisky it seems both very heavily-wood influenced and also quite old-fashioned in style. Certainly if tasted blind I'd have made a fool of myself - I'd never have picked this as Japanese, and probably would have guessed it as a 15-18 yrs old Highlander. Definitely needs water.

Hanyu Distillery was located in a town bearing its name on the banks of the Tone river. The original company was founded from a family business originally established in 1626 by the Akuto family, sake-makers in the town of Chichibu. Isouji Akuto, the 19th generation of the Akuto family, built a factory in Hanyu city, north-west of Tokyo, in 1941 to produce alcohol and obtained a licence to do so in 1946.


In 1980, serious attempts to produce a Scotch whisky-type product began and two pot stills were obtained. At the time, consumer demand was for blended whisky rather than single malt. Since then there has been a worldwide shift towards single malts and in 1990 Chichibu whisky was launched, named after the place where the sake was originally produced. It had two steam-heated stills and a continuous still, along with a Sake brewery.


Unfortunately it stopped making whisky in 2000, with the pot stills and distilling equipment dismantled in 2004. The grandson of the founder, Ichiro, purchased the mature stock and distilling facilities and hopes one day to start a new distillery. A dream that he is currently realising with his creation of the Chichibu Distillery.


<a href="/distilleries/the-hanyu-distillery">Read more about the Hanyu distillery here!</a>