Partagas Lusitania – Chichibu Ichiro’s Wine Wood Reserve Malt Whisky – “I Love Lusi”
As the otherwise largely obscure (now) French poet, Paul Claudel, said, “Gentlemen, in the little moment that remains to us between the crisis and the catastrophe, we may as well drink a glass of champagne”.
Yes, it has been that sort of week (and forgive me but there have been a few spoilers already on the forum).
What a nightmare few days. Edging closer to settling a new house, but it still seems as though it is a million miles away and with a vendor keen to crash the contract and a bank trying not to keep stumbling over its own twisted incompetency, there is still every chance I’ll be on a park bench.
Over a year ago, with the burglary and the old place crumbling, I knew I needed to sell and move. Loved that old place, but it needed way too much work and I had neither the ability nor the dosh. The sale took months before and after the contract. Including 8 extensions – not all of them caused by my Bank, or their bank, but my bank lost the docs twice, theirs lost theirs once; mine sent the docs to the wrong branch on another occasion, didn’t turn up for a settlement, etc, etc, etc.
So eventually sold and then the nightmare of finding a new place in a raging market. Eventually have a place I like. Too much, but I gather the vendor got a higher offer just after he signed with me, so that is a good sign (if I can get to settlement).
Edging slowly to going unconditional – yesterday was the day for that for both pest/building and finance and it was made abundantly clear that there would be no extensions given at all – not a single second. Pest and building were fine – got a really good bloke doing that. The issue with finance was being able to sign the transfer documents and mortgage to get the finance. It is all sorted in that the old facility just swaps across to the new property as the security. But that is expiring soon and will not be renewed and if it expires, the circumstances at the moment with banks, taxes etc, mean I will not get another. Talk about getting frazzled. Toss in border closures and lockdowns and a nightmare indeed.
Finally, Tuesday morning, the Bank gives me clearance. All good. I have to sign on Thursday morning because that is when the JP is at the Bank – everything had to be transferred across the border to a nearby Bank branch. And then she says, and bring your passport. I don’t have one – stolen last year and with Covid, no travel so I have not bothered to renew yet. Then bring your birth certificate. What????
I am not sure I have ever seen my birth certificate. Well, you need it Thursday morning for identification or you can’t sign. Then no finance and the sale falls over and with the way things are, plus having to get a birth certificate issued during lockdown, I am utterly and royally screwed. Park bench stuff and I really am not joking. Seriously, I need a birth certificate to identify myself after being a client for more than 30 years. I have five accounts with them. Unbelievable.
Panic stations and serious stress. By the most extraordinary of coincidences, my sister was looking for stuff on my mother for her 90th party a few weeks ago – photos and history etc – and came across a file in an old cabinet that had our certificates. Unbelievable. Mum actually has her birthday the same day or thereabouts as Rob’s dad and I was going to post a pic of her when he did, but got sidetracked. So here is a pic of mum. She’d be so pissed to be on a cigar forum. Short term memory totally gone but she still goes out most days, when allowed. Goes to the golf club but stopped playing a few years ago. Still plays cards most days. Not bad for 90.
Next problem is getting the certificate to me by 5pm Wednesday. This is Tuesday arvo. DHL? Yes, we deliver overnight (in normal times, from my sister’s to the beach shack is an hour 40). If we collect tonight, it will be delivered Monday. Christ on a stick.
My sister finally finds someone who, for $250, will get it to me next day. Needless to say, they are late. I need it by just before 5pm or my life is over. Twenty minutes to spare. Must say I was so relieved that I sent confirmation and then went straight down for a fish. I figured my luck had changed. Lost my rig first cast so that theory out the window. Did pick up a small tailor which, in white wine and lemon, was perfect for dinner. And knocked off the rest of a superb XO Cognac.
Anyway, I make sure I am at the Bank an hour early next morning to get this done. The guy there was great. Ready early with the docs. We sit down to sign and he says, ‘so you have your licence and Medicare card?’
‘Yep. And of course, here is the birth certificate’.
He waives it away and says, ‘don’t need it’.
I suspect that he was not expecting a very loud ‘YOU’RE F…. KIDDING!!!!’ from the first client of the day. I explain the troubles. He is just giggling and says, no, no need. I tell him he is taking the details down whether he likes it or not.
And then one of those priceless moments.
He looks at me and says, ‘I can’t seem to find the expiry date’. I should say that this bloke is one of the two competent people I have dealt with at this bank among a sea of imbeciles.
I look at him in wonder and say, ‘the expiry date on my birth certificate?’. He nods.
I ask, ‘wouldn’t that be my death certificate?’
We both end up having a good laugh.
I get home to find the other competent person at the Bank telling me that it was not correctly executed and it is all over (which means my deposit is gone) and I can’t execute for another week. More panic. Go back and forth. Finally told all was well. It is not that the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing. It is that neither even knows another hand exists.
Now I just need to find the rest of the money.
So I went fishing again but a monumental sweep made that pointless.
You reckon I don’t need a good cigar and a drink after all that?
One of my all time favourite cigars, and one that has been for many years, is a good Lusi. So it was a Partagas Lusitania with the Chichibu Ichiro’s Malt Wine Wood Reserve. I have written of this fabulous Japanese whisky before, but it was several years ago so why not a rehash. But the cigar first.
The Lusi had more of a box press appearance than I ever recall seeing in a Lusi. And a much darker wrapper than most I have seen. Really looked good so why on earth this was a second, I have no idea. if you looked closely, some tiny, tiny cracks in the wrapper but you’d really be a touch anal to be unhappy. Still, standards, I suppose. And it most certainly did not smoke like a ‘second’.
The draw was easy but not too much. Opened superbly. Honey, cream, teak, caramel, milk coffee. Just lovely. Quite subtle. Plenty of flavour but finely balanced. Not a hiccup. Some nutmeg and cinnamon moved in. It developed a character which I can only describe as a nutmeg crème brulee.
After the first 2/3rds, I would happily have given this a 98. It really was that good. The last third was a bit wonky and this was actually where those tiny cracks were. That last third started to get a little hot. But my overall experience was a solid 96.
I really do love the Lusi!
And an ideal match with the whisky, Chichibu Ichiro’s Wine Wood Reserve Malt. Complex and subtle, it sat perfectly with the cigar. It did not take long for this producer to become a cult maker for whisky fans. Indeed, it is almost the Japanese version of Pappy van Winkle. Fans often make a pilgrimage to it, though they are usually disappointed that there is none for sale and often none to taste.
Owner Ichiro Akuto, however, has a long history in the industry, as his family once owned the respected Hanyu distillery. Ichiro has extensive contacts throughout the industry, both in Japan and throughout the whisky world, and often blends with components from other distilleries domestically and internationally.
Hanyu, closed since 2000, was established in 1946, but the family has been distilling since the seventeenth century. It is these contacts and the wise decision to purchase all the Hanyu stock when the place was closed that have allowed Ichiro to offer whiskies of age, given how young his distillery is.
He makes, for a small operation, a wide range of whiskies, some only a couple hundred bottles. One was just 26 bottles – no wonder they are such collectors’ items and the prices have skyrocketed.
One famous release was 54 different malts, his Playing Cards series (52 cards plus two jokers). But there are tales of how many of these did nothing for several years but gather dust on shelves, unloved and unappreciated – there was a time not that long ago when Japanese whisky was very much in the doldrums, unthinkable now. These bottles are now legendary and bring many thousands of dollars each, if ever one appears. A set brought over a million dollars at a recent auction, I believe.
It seems all manner of experimentation is the order of the day. Some are matured in Japanese/Mongolian Mizunara oak casks (Suntory first kicked this off back in World War II as other sources of oak became extremely difficult to source), others in casks formerly used for New Zealand Pinot Noir, and so on.
Mizunara oak, considered to be some of the rarest and most expensive oak on the planet, contributes a distinctive coconut character to the whiskies, which is a feature of many of the Chichibu whiskies. Others talk of green plums, incense, allspice, and sandalwood notes.
His Ichiro’s Malt MWR stands for Mizunara Wood Reserve. The MWR is a pure malt, largely distilled at Hanyu, matured in Mizunara casks after vatting with several other unblended malts.
The Ichiro’s Malt Wine Wood Reserve is another blended malt (their description and I understand that some purists may bristle at these descriptions – before anyone howls me down, “pure malts” and such terms are used in Japan, even if not popular elsewhere), including components from both the Hanyu and Chichibu distilleries.
Some consider it the best of the range (you can probably find fans saying that for every one of their many bottlings). It is claimed, notes of Pinot Noir, which I take to mean red fruit notes, are often found, some toffee, nuts and even a menthol/grassiness along with a touch of the traditional coconut. I’ve also seen the character described as Bordeaux-like. Over time, the percentages of Hanyu have decreased and that of Chichibu increased. The Hanyu components were matured in French oak, egg-shaped casks from the Charentes region, previously used for Japanese red wine.
For me, honey, cinnamon, that touch of coconut and a hint of nougat. Bright, fresh, and yet with complexity, there is excellent length here, decent power and well balanced.
There is ongoing debate as to whether these whiskies benefit from a drop or two of water – in the end personal preference will rule, but try experimenting.
I think repeating the Lusi and the Malt might be a worthwhile experience, if I ever get this house over the line.
KBG
