Delfts Blauw X Kintsugi
An Ichiro’s Malt & Grain special edition
Delfts Blauw and Kintsugi. Both two different earthenware traditions on two different sides of the ocean.
It is the latest special set bottled and distributed by Salud Spirits.
Packaged in a box set that is just a piece of art on it’s own, the bottles are paired with a tile in Delfts blue print, celebrating both Dutch and Japanese culture.
The boxset is huge, it surprised me a little, but then again, it is a keeper. (My mother already asked if she could have it if the bottles are empty.) In the box, after opening the first one, I find another flat, thin box, containing the tile in black foam.
It contains the same image as the box: A Dutch windmill accompanied by a Japanese temple building.
Both instantaneously recognisable and connectable to each culture.
Lifting the flat box with the tile and putting it carefully aside, I have a first look at the bottles.
Only 239 sets
The folks at Salud have teamed up with Chichibu for a release that’s as much about the design as it is about the delicious liquid inside. This is the Delfts Blauw x Kintsugi limited edition—a double-hitter of Ichiro’s Malt & Grain single casks, blended whiskies, that closes the gap between the Lowlands and the Land of the Rising Sun.
It’s a tribute to two traditional craftsmanship:
Delfts Blauw: Pure Dutch heritage. Think intricate detail, refined tradition, and that iconic blue-and-white soul. And tiles, many tiles in old kitchen walls.
Kintsugi: The Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold. It’s a philosophy where imperfections aren't hidden—they’re celebrated and given new value. (It is giving Wabi-Sabi vibes)
This philosophy is the perfect metaphor for great whisky: it’s about time, layers of character, and a story that simply cannot be manufactured, except by Salud when describing the work of Ichiro Akuto.
Ichiro’s Malt & Grain Delfts Blauw
The Delfts Blauw is limited to 239 bottles. Which automatically limits the available sets. Spoiler, the Kintsugi had a little more bottles. It is a single cask blended whisky, and the cask this blend married on was a 2nd fill Bourbon cask. It was bottled at 61.8% Vol.
Pouring my first dram, some tropical notes appeared. And ran away. Literally disappeared while pouring.
Very weird, but those fresh, tropical notes like sweetened pineapple were a quick passing by while pouring. I think those notes missed the glass.
On the nose I get persimmon and warm honey with some white pepper. A second nosing releases some light vanilla.
The first sip gives me a little of the spirit burn I expected, but also some warm apples, sweet creamy fudge and pear sprinkled with some vanilla mixed with light pepper.
The finish leaves some fruit and spices that could last a little longer to me, but only reach a medium long finish.
Ichiro’s Malt & Grain Kintsugi
So this one surprised me a little. But before i run into that part, first things first: This whisky was bottled at 60.8% Vol.
This edition has 259 bottles, so there must be a few loose bottles to score, since the Delfts Blauw had less. And they are paired up in sets.
This whisky had a finish on a 2nd fill bourbon cask, that previously held a peated whisky. With that in mind, I was expecting some peat by proxy on the nose and on the palate.
On the nose I got a lot of citrus with a faint hint of some bbq or campfire smoke in the back. It reminded me of that time I smoked some sweet apples for a dessert with some fresh meringue and that ide kept lingering while nosing this dram: Cotton candy, apples and some sharp woodsmoke.
The palate is a little rougher. Next to some thick vanilla and apple, the smoke adds a more meatier note to the taste that I enjoy. It is a little sharper, like the smoke coming of some smouldering apple wood chunks.
THe finish keeps a tannine that I like, it feels a bit salty and sweet at the same time and lasts rather long.