Ichiro’s Malt is the brainchild of Ichiro Akuto – grandson of the founder of the fabled (and long closed) Hanyu distillery in Japan. Ichiro founded the new Chichibu distillery nearby, and started vatting his new make with old Hanyu stock for his early releases (see my reviews of Ichiro’s Malt Mizunara Wood Reserve and Double Distilleries).

Following on his inaugural Chichibu single malt release (the appropriately named Chichibu The First), Ichiro released this slightly revised version, known as The Floor Malted. This is in reference to the traditional method of malting barley in Scottish single malts (although it may not be so common elsewhere). Apparently, Ichiro learned this method while in Britain, and he personally hand-malted all the barley for this release while there.

Distilled in 2009 and released in 2012, this 3 year old whisky was bottled at 50.5% ABV. Only 8800 bottles were produced, so it is understandably hard to get a hold of now. I came across it recently at Dr Jekyll’s pub in Oslo, Norway – for the low price of 148 NOK (about $23 CAD) for a standard 4 cl pour. That’s about what they want for an entry-level Scottish speyside in the bar.  Note that alcohol in Norway is heavily taxed, and so it is not the best jurisdiction to go hunting for bargains. But Dr Jekyll’s has one of the best selections I’ve ever seen, and they pass along bargains to their customers (which tells me they must have picked this one up at something near its original 9,000 Yen – $90 CAD – price tag). Thanks to Thomas Øhrbom of Whisky Saga for introducing me to the place. The bottle number was 8229.

According to info online, it is believed to be aged in a combination of primarily ex-bourbon casks as well as Chichibu’s own original quarter casks called “Chibidaru” (or more simply, “Chibi”).  There are not a lot of reviews of it online, but here’s how it compares to other Ichiro’s Malts in my Meta-Critic Database:

Ichiro’s Malt The Joker: 9.24 ± 0.22 on 4 reviews ($$$$$+)
Ichiro’s Malt Double Distilleries: 8.64 ± 0.27 on 6 reviews ($$$$$)
Ichiro’s Malt Chichibu The Floor Malted: 8.56 ± 0.27 on 4 reviews ($$$$$+)
Ichiro’s Malt Chichibu The First: 8.47 ± 0.38 on 12 reviews ($$$$$+)
Ichiro’s Malt Mizunara Wood Reserve (MWR): 8.21 ± 0.55 on 7 reviews ($$$$$)
Ichiro’s Malt Chichibu The Peated: 8.80 ± 0.33 on 7 reviews ($$$$$+)

A step up from the initial release, but not as popular as the third Ichiro’s Malt, the Peated.

Let’s see what I find in the glass for the Floor Malted:

Nose: Definitely a bourbon nose, sweet with honey, pears, peaches and red delicious apples. Vanilla and caramel. A touch of spice, with some honey mustard sauce and eucalyptus. A bit of lemon. Malt comes through very clearly, with cereal notes. The only sign of its young age is a touch of glue – surprisingly few off notes otherwise. Honestly, I’m impressed by the complexity of this three year old malt.

Palate: Very malty, with cereal and biscuit notes most prominent. Similar fruits as the nose. Woody. Initially comes across as somewhat light, but with noticeable alcohol burn (again, likely due to its youth). Texture improves on subsequent sips. Pepper picks up on the spice front, as does some some oaky bitterness. Water helps slightly with burn and improves the texture, but not the faint bitterness – I recommend you try a couple of drops.

Finish‎. Shortish. The malty aspects persist the longest, with some of the vanilla and caramel. Turns a bit cakey over time (i.e., dry lemon cake), which is actually a positive for me. Dulls a bit with water, so you will want to go easy here.

An approachable malt, I’m honestly surprised to see this is only 3 years old. Any Canadian whisky I’ve had at that age has been a lot a harsher.  Certainly more interesting than many of the light 10/12 year old Scottish lowlands and speysides. It will be hard for you to come across the Floor Malted “in the wild”, but it was definitely a very good choice for the price I paid in Oslo.

There are few reviews of this whisky among my reviewer base, so I will give you my own score: 8.5 (which puts it right about average for the single malt class).  The lack of much of a finish holds it back from a higher score from me.  But for even more positive reviews, you can check out Dramtastic’s review at the Japanese Whisky Review or Michio’s review at Japan Whisky Reviews. The Whiskey Exchange also has a positive write up for this one.