Magazine

Going Bespoke in Japan

What do you offer the customer who’s tasted everything on your back bar? Why, a bespoke whisky that has been bottled exclusively for you of course. Whether it’s a top cask from a famous name or an up and coming star like Japan’s Chichibu distillery, nothing else quite raises the reputation of your spirits range.

After many years of working with the best whisky producers across the world, Speciality Drinks has developed the relationships to offer our customers exclusive casks of whisky that are available to no one else.

One name that has taken the whisky world by storm is the new Japanese distillery of Chichibu. Their whiskies are amongst the most highly prized in the world right now, and fortunately for us, they have asked Speciality Drinks to help secure their place on the back bars of the UK’s best spots.

Some people will always buy hot whiskies like Chichibu for investment, but fortunately there are many others who buy these whiskies to be drunk, enjoyed and discussed.  Two such advocates are Xavier Landais from Sexy Fish and Simon Freeth from ROKA and Zuma, who have both recently bought worked with us to create their own exclusive bottlings of Chichibu.

Sexy Fish customers can now enjoy a fascinating and highly original bottle of Chichibu as part of the bar’s new Japanese whisky menu. Aged in Chassagne-Montrachet pinot noir cask for six years, Bar Director at Caprice Holdings, Xavier Landais, describes this dram as having notes of ‘…pink peppercorn, strawberry, coffee. Super sexy really.’ The stunning label design by our creative director Raj Chavda reflects the beauty of the Sexy Fish interiors with a particular nod to Frank Gehry’s fish lamps above the bar.

ROKA and Zuma both specialise in contemporary Japanese cuisine and share a great passion for Japanese whisky. Their exclusive single cask of Chichibu is from the 2012 vintage, bottled last year by legendary Master Distiller Ichiro Akuto. Global Bar Manager Simon Freeth describes it as an “Absolutely stunning whisky, packed with a punch. Aged in a single bourbon barrel it has toffee and cedar notes on the nose, is really well balanced, and has hints of vanilla and stone fruit on the palate with a beautiful long finish”. The striking packaging created by our creative director Raj Chavda will certainly stop anyone passing their back bar in their tracks.

If you would like to find out more about Chichibu or bottling a bespoke cask of whisky with us, please contact your Account Manager.

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