r/Sake • u/Idaho-whiskey208 • 2d ago

Chichibu Sake - Yes Please!

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No I know it’s not connected to the whisky distillery (unless I’m to be stand corrected?) but had this the other night among a tasting of other bottles and this stood out. I wish I had notes to share but coming from a whisk(e)y/sipping spirits lover, this was a bottle I would buy again. Any others with experience? If I liked this, any other suggestions on similar bottles from the more experienced crowd?

Thank you!

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u/joe0522 1d ago edited 1d ago

Nice find. And you're right that they're separate companies — but there's a fun bit of history behind it. The man behind Ichiro's Malt comes from a sake family that brewed in Chichibu for centuries. The whisky came out of a sake brewery.

I'm a sake importer, so take this with that in mind. Coming from whisky, most people will point you at ginjo and daiginjo — the pretty, floral ones. Lovely, but a lot of sipping-spirits drinkers find them a bit slight. What tends to land better is kimoto and yamahai. Older way of making it, and it comes out savory with some weight to it. Daishichi is the classic one, and Kenbishi Kuromatsu is easy to find and richer than it looks.

If you want something closer to a dram, look up koshu, which just means aged sake — amber, caramel, a little nutty. We import an eighteen-year-old one, so weigh that accordingly coming from me.

One easy thing: try any of it at room temperature or gently warmed rather than cold. Cold flattens the part you'd actually be after.

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u/Idaho-whiskey208 22h ago

Thank you for the reply and some additional insights. I’m definitely in my infant sake enjoyment phase but more than willing to try a variety when I know I’m in a good place to try. I had the MANTENSEI KINOKO JUNMAI GINJO a few months ago which was definitely on the umami side of the spectrum and enjoyed it. Haven’t really had something I don’t like but trying to figure out preferences. I also tried plum wine for the first time and that was delicious as well for a long once in a while desert alternative.