Chichibu

Akuto’s family had brewed sake for more than 300 years when his grandfather decided to start distilling whisky in 1945. Akuto’s father took over the Hanyu Distillery but sadly had to sell it and the sake business when they ran into financial difficulties. The buyer didn’t want the last remaining 400 casks of Hanyu whisky so the young Akuto took them and established Venture Whisky in 2004.

The majority of the remaining Hanyu stock went into the much-lauded Card Series, which was released in groups of four from 2005 to 2014. The quartet releases built in popularity throughout this time until the final sets became astoundingly collectable. A complete Ichiro’s Card series, consisting of 54 bottles, including the jokers, sold for US$1.52 million in 2020.

Then Chichibu was built in 2008, it was the first independent distillery to open in Japan since the 1970s. Akuto launched Chichibu’s first label – Ichiro’s Vintage Single Malt 1988 – the same year.

The Chichibu distillery is located on a small hill on the outskirts of Chichibu in the Saitama Prefecture. The region experiences hot and humid summers and cold winters, when temperatures can drop below freezing. These conditions are highly desirable for the accelerated maturation of whisky. Chichibu’s water comes from the Arakawa River.

The distillery boasts eight washbacks made from mizunara. The team uses Japanese-produced distillers’ yeast, and fermentation times average four days, significantly longer than other producers. There are currently circa 8,000 casks maturing across six dunnage warehouses, 80-90% of which are ex-Bourbon barrels.

In 2019, Chichibu opened a second distillery, a short drive from the original. Its capacity is approximately five times larger than the original distillery. Washbacks are made from French oak, rather than mizunara, and the stills are direct-fired. The vast majority of Chichibu’s output is unpeated but the team does produce peated malt for one month each year. Some of the most sought-after Chichibu Ichiro’s Malt releases are the Double Distilleries, the Wine Wood Reserve and the Mizunara Wood Reserve, produced by blending malts from young Chichibu whiskies and old Hanyu Distillery stock. There is also very limited availability of three-year old single malts The First, The Floor Malted and Chichibu The Peated.

Today, Chichibu grows some of its own barley, boasts in-house floor maltings and an on-site cooperage.

Chichibu new-make spirit is characteristically sweet and fruit-forward.