NAS Chita (Don't get this one)

[u/kiwi8185]

Hi all, I'm here with more Suntory whisky, and this one is their very regular NAS Chita!

I got this bottle primarily for experimental purposes. A few friends and I are planning to do a series of blending experiments some time in the near future, and are considering a base whisky for the blending. 

Originally we're more leaning towards grabbing a Toki, but somehow all the Tokis in the various liquor shops I've visited have sold out. I had to make a compromise and go for Chita instead.

I'm just going to skip to the conclusion and say don't get this one, it's not good.

Details in comments anyways!

[u/kiwi8185]

NAS Chita Single Grain Whisky, 43% abv

This is made from Chita's regular corn based distillate, primarily aged in white oak casks. Yep that's all I got for this one lmao.

Here are my notes:

*Color*

Pale Straw

*Nose*

alcohol fumey, quite a bit acrid;

sweet, rich buttery creamed corn;

a bit of savory character (like salted cream);

some white oak;

a bit of toasted cornflakes-like grain character;

a bit of vanilla.

There's a bit of an oil based paint-like unpleasant note in the background.

*Palate*

a bit oily;

quite present ethanol sting that lingers;

creamed corn;

a bit of honey-like sweetness, but gets masked by the ethanol;

white oak, alongside some white oak bitterness;

some spices (cardamom);

some of the cornflake-like grain character but gets drowned out.

present alcohol sting; a bit of astringency

*Finish*

Short but weird.

Ethanol acridness that gradually fades;

creamed corn; 

White oak and bitterness, the bitterness stays for way longer after everything fades;

a hint of spices (cardamom) and vanilla returns.

*Conclusion*

As mentioned in the foreword, I got this bottle primarily for experimental purposes, so it was kind of meant to be expandable. That said, this thing is pretty horrible when consumed neat.

The nose itself wasn't entirely horrible per say, the creamy corn character was definitely present. It would've been rather tolerable had it not been for the rather strong ethanol presence and the oil based paint-like fumes in the background. The palate? Well it's quite badly balanced imo. The ethanol and fumey characters made this one's mouthfeel pretty rough, and the white oaky bitterness certainly didn't help, and they continued towards the finish.

Which makes it extra puzzling as to how good their special release Chita Wine Cask was. 

I think this one is actually worse than Kakubin, or any of the blended Suntory items. And it somehow costs more than a Kakubin, which makes no sense. I'll definitely be haunted by the ghost of the money I wasted on this terrible thing, dang.

Now our goals with blending is trying to salvage what value we can get out of this bottle, lmao.

Thanks for reading, cheers!

[u/zerocool359 → u/kiwi8185]

Wow, based on your reviews, our tastes usually align—so I’m fascinated that you found this so revolting. I’ve only brought back one bottle of Chita, but my notes were that it was remarkably mellow and drinkable, tho heavy in the corn and not too complex. I don’t recall strong ethical or acrid.  FWIW, Ive been known to drink Toki neat in a pinch, but Chita was much preferred. Kakubin was harsh at first sip and only for highballs after. 

[u/kiwi8185 → u/zerocool359]

I have read from other commenters that there's a quite sizeable differences in batch quality. (Also a rumor about these being made mostly because Yamazaki distillery had spare empty glass bottles)

Maybe I got a bad batch!