The Chita Single Grain Review



”Big in Japan”

Whisky Review # 885

Country: Japan
Region: Central Japan (Honshu)
Brand: The Chita
Type: Japanese Single Grain Whisky
Age: NAS
Alcohol By Volume (ABV): 43%
Maturation: Mix of Sherry, Bourbon and Wine Barrels of White and Spanish Oak
Chill Filtration: Yes
Sample provided by Mauricio from Brazil. Many thanks!
Price Range : US$ 50-70 (August 2020)
Price/Quality Ratio: 👎 Way too expensive for what it offers!
Buying Advice: 😒 Not good enough as a sipping whisky. Too expensive for Mix!

Colour:

Light Golden (Artificially Colored)

Nose:

An initial waft of Varnish/Nail Polish suggests the possible use of some Fresh Oak in the maturation process. It diminishes rapidly though but remains somewhere in the background. The Nose is Young, Light and mainly Sweet. There's quite a lot of Fruit to be found but it does smell a little artificial. The Grain Alcohol is less harsh than the variety usually found in Blended Scotch. The Nose is okay but not much more than that.

Main Aromas:

Honey Nut Breakfast Cereals, Buttered Cake, Corn, Caramel, Vanilla, Pineapple, Lemon, Mandarin, Coconut, Cinnamon and Nutmeg.

Supportive Aroma Accents:

Banana-Flavored Ice Cream, Pear, Green Apple, Nectarine, Orange, Mango, Grass & Straw, Floral Soap, Varnish/Acetone, Wood Shavings, Slivovitz, Ginger, Herbal Tea, Cinnamon, Pepper, Empty Green Vegetable Cans that contained peas or something like that and Tobacco.


Palate
:


Young, Light, Sweet, Thin and a little "Funky". A light Metallic Off-Note. Again lots of Sweet rather Artificially Flavored Fruit. The Alcohol is more noticeable at this point. This is not really my thing!

Main Flavours:

Sugared Honey Nut Breakfast Cereals, Cake and Cream, Butter, Caramel, Vanilla, Green Apple, Slightly Bitter Orange, Mandarin, Banana-Flavored Ice-Cream, Wet Earth, Cinnamon, Nutmeg and Ginger.

Supportive Flavour Accents:

Milk Chocolate, Coconut, Pineapple, Mango, Pear, Lemon, Grapefruit, Floral Soap, Wood Shavings, Pepper, Menthol, Cloves, Salt, Varnish/Acetone and Herbal Tea.  

Finish:

Light, Young, Short/Medium-Long and Sugary Sweet. I mean really Sweet! A few Bitter, Sour and Salty notes provide a minimum contrast. The Alcohol kick at the end is slightly "Hot". I find extra-Sugared Breakfast Cereals, Caramel, Vanilla, Cake & Cream, slightly Bitter Orange, Lemon, Mandarin, Grapefruit, Green Apples, Unripe Apricot, Pepper, Salt, Nutmeg, Ginger, Menthol, Varnish/Acetone and Herbal Tea. After a while hints of Licorice and Espresso.

Drinking Advice:

Added Water helps to calm down the Alcohol but that's about it. The Finish becomes almost non-existing this way.

Rating: 77.5

Nose: 20.5 - Taste: 19.5 - Finish: 18.5 - Overall: 19

Drinking Experience Neat: Okay at the most

Conclusion:

The Chita distillery was founded in 1972 and is located at the Port of Nagoya Sun Grain facility in the Chita district of the Aichi Prefecture. It's the only major Whisky distillery in Japan that is specializing in Grain Whisky. It's owned by Suntori, the company that also runs the Yamazaki and Hakushu distilleries. Until 2015, the grain whisky was used only in Blends. Since then however Suntori is positioning Chita as a Single Grain Whisky as well. Suntory's chief blender Fukuyo Shinji and his crew use no less than 10 different grains for The Chita.

I can't tell you a lot about this Chita other than that I don't like it very much. It's very Young, very Light, Thin and Funky. The latter referring to a few light off-notes. It's okay for mixing I suppose but it's way too expensive for that. Everybody wants to ride the huge waves of enthusiasm for Japanese Whiskies in general but this one simply isn't good enough as a sipping Malt. This one might be Big in Japan but at this price level I feel a bit "Chitad"😂.

Cheers!

Jan van den Ende                                                                          August 3, 2020

Chita Distillery

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