Yep.
Internet whisperers say this whisky is in fact 12 years old and aged in red wine casks, but if Suntory doesn't put it on the label I'm going to ignore the rumors unless my palate tells me to do otherwise. Keep in mind, this is NOT the standard NAS "The Chita" that entered the market in 2016, instead this version was bottled in 2014 specifically for the Aichi Prefecture, where Chita (the city and distillery) is located.
Distillery: Chita
Ownership: Beam Suntory
Type: Single grain whisky
Country: Japan
Age: ???
Maturation: ???
Bottled: 2014
Exclusive to: Aichi Prefecture
Alcohol by Volume: 43%
(from a bottle split)
NOTES
As I'd feared, the nose is mostly Malibu Coconut Rum and imitation vanilla extract. The rubber bands, burnt wheat, and veg note in the midground doesn't save it. It kinda rolls over into a cream soda character after 30 minutes.
The palate is oddly hot, but not-so-oddly packed with sugar and vanilla. Peppercorn-coated cardboard moves between the mid- and background across each sip.
It finishes with cream soda and cardboard.
Things worsen once the grain is poured over a big ice cube. Picture: vanilla frosting smeared unevenly over a cardboard box.
WORDS WORDS WORDS
I'm aware that my take on Nikka Coffey Grain ("one step away from being a total embarrassment" and would lose to Evan Williams Black Label in a blind taste test) is unpopular, but this limited edition Chita is worse than Nikka's grain. You know it's a sad pour when you're hoping the artificial vanilla note will return. And I don't really mind the cream soda aspect, in fact that might be its best part. But LOL the wine cask rumor. LOL my cat harrrfing up a hairball right now. LOL grain whisky.
