Prices
Prices and stock come from each retailer's website. Check with the store before you buy.
More from this distillery: All Chichibu whiskies and prices
About
What it is
The higher strength expression of Ichiro's Malt & Grain, bottled at 50.5% rather than the 46% of the standard White Label. Released in numbered batches, so what's in the bottle changes between them. Non-chill filtered, no colour added.
Where it comes from
Venture Whisky calls this World Blended Whisky on the label and means it. Chichibu single malt is blended with malt and grain whiskies sourced internationally, with Scotland, Ireland, Canada and the United States all named across the range. That puts it outside the Japan Spirits and Liqueurs Makers Association standard, which requires distillation in Japan. Ichiro Akuto has never presented it as anything else, which is more than can be said for a lot of the category.
The exact composition isn't published and the imported sources aren't named.
How it's made
The sourced whiskies are matured abroad, then brought to Chichibu and given further time there before blending, so the Japanese climate works on the imported spirit too. Vatting is done in large wooden vats. The 505 designation refers simply to the bottling strength.
What to expect
Everything the White Label does with the volume turned up. Honey, stone fruit and vanilla, with more oak grip and a longer finish than the 46% version. Batch variation is real, so tasting notes from one batch don't transfer cleanly to another. It takes water well.
How it compares
Against the standard Malt & Grain White Label, this is the same idea at cask strength and it suits the blend, since the 46% version can read a little polite. Against Suntory's Ao, the other prominent Japanese-made world whisky, Akuto's is better integrated. Against Chichibu's own single malts it's a completely different proposition, and considerably easier to find.
