Owned by Suntory, Chita was always destined for greatness. Suntory’s second Master Blender, Keizo Saji (the son of Suntory’s founder, Shinjiro Torii) founded Chita in 1972 with a view to creating high-quality Japanese grain whisky, and furthering his father’s dream of diversifying whisky-making in Japan.
Chita distillery is located on the Chita peninsula in Honshu, Japan, where the climate is hot and humid in the summer months with mild winters. Mist covers the shores of the peninsula, making Chita blend in with its serene surroundings.
Chita produces three types of grain whisky at its seaside premises. These types are clean, medium, and heavy corn grain whisky. This is in contrast to many distilleries that produce grain whisky only in the heavy variety. The clean whisky is distilled through four columns, the medium type through three, and the heavy type through two. The careful distillation of all of these whiskies help to develop a complexity of flavour that is then nurtured by the American Oak casks that Chita whisky is matured in.
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Initially, Chita’s grain whiskies were used in Suntory’s blends to enhance the flavour of the malt whiskies also in the bottles. These blends include Kakubin, Suntory Old, and Hibiki. However, through thorough research and expert distillation, Chita is now known for producing a high-end, luxury single grain whisky known as ‘The Chita’. In 2017 Chita Single Grain won a gold medal at the International Spirits Challenge.
Record-Breaking Bottles: Chita Edition
The top three most expensive Chita bottles sold on Dram Data are:
- Chita 2001 Wine Cask Finish for £400
- Chita Sakura Cask Finish for £400
- Chita Sakura Cask Finish for £395
The top three most expensive Chita bottles sold on Whisky Auctioneer are:
- Chita 2001 Wine Cask Finish for £725
- Chita Sakura Cask Finish for £400
- Chita Sakura Cask Finish for £395
The top three most expensive Chita bottles sold on Whisky Stats are:
- Chita 12-year-old for £209
- The Chita Single Grain for £63
- The Chita Single Grain for £30
*Note. There were only three results for ‘Chita’ on Whisky Stats, hence the low prices.
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The Chita
Older bottles of Chita Single Grain are highly sought after because it was not common for Chita to release single grain expressions until the release of The Chita, which now serves as Chita’s flagship single grain whisky. These bottles are readily available to buy online, hence the lack of results for this bottle at auction. As for older bottles of Chita, these are much more rare and so you may have to try your luck at auction.
If you would like to try a bottle of this innovative single grain whisky you can shop on a number of websites such as Master of Malt, The Whisky Exchange, Amazon, and Waitrose. Visit any one of these websites to purchase a truly Japanese single grain whisky for your enjoyment.