Chichibu

While Ichiro Akuto can trace his ancestors’ association with brewed (and later distilled) beverages back to 1625, the origins of this story start in 1946, when Akuto’s grandfather established the now closed Hanyu Distillery in Saitama Prefecture. Initially a Saké brewery, Akuto’s grandfather began to dabble in Whisky after WWII. His passion was passed on to his son, Akuto’s father, who, by the late 1990s had amassed about 400 casks of maturing Hanyu Whisky. However, following an economic downturn, in 2000 the Akuto family were compelled to sell the distillery and its assets to a Kyoto-based Shochu producer. 

We’ll skip chapter and verse, but in short, Akuto found a way to eventually rescue Hanyu’s equipment and its maturing stocks and set about bottling a series of Whiskies that went on to become legendary in the industry, selling for thousands per bottle (see Ichiro's Malt Card series). The seed money gained from these sales helped him establish, in 2007, what is now considered arguably one of the most important independent Japanese Whisky distilleries, at a site just 50 km from the old Hanyu land—Chichibu.

Until recently, Chichibu was probably the closest Japan came to a craft Whisky distillery. Ichiro has 14 employees and just two small copper pot stills, designed by himself and made by Forsyths in Scotland. The eight 3,000-litre washback’s—made from Hokkaido Mizunara oak—produces ten batches per week resulting in approximately 60,000-litres of new-make—a drop in the ocean compared with Japan’s big players (to put it in perceptive, a single washback at Yamazaki can hold over 100,000-litres). 

It’s not always the case that rarity equates to quality, yet that’s certainly the case at Chichibu, where Ichiro Akuto’s faultless technique meets a meticulous attention to detail.

Most of the current production is unpeated, using Norfolk barley. A peated new-make, however, is produced during the last month before maintenance season starts (Ichiro uses malted barley peated to a mighty ‘Ardbeg-level’ 50 ppm from Crisp Maltings). Recently, Chichibu has finished their own floor maltings and has begun experimenting with locally grown Japanese winter barley. If a bona fide, pure Japanese Whisky is going to materialise soon, it will probably be from here first. Chichibu has even begun to harvest Japanese peat in preparation for a locally grown peated malt. It’s all enough to make your head spin. 

Thanks to its size, and Ichiro’s sense of adventure, the distillery can experiment with a variety of casks for maturation: ex-bourbon casks, Sherry hogsheads, French wine barrels, and new American oak—to name but a few! —as well as casks made from the native Mizunara oak, which are coopered on site. Yes, the distillery now has its own, small, bespoke cooperage.

We aim to ship the entry-level Ichiro’s Malt and Grain Blended Whisky as often as we can. Once a year we receive an allocation of Chichibu’s smaller-batch bottlings, which are often defined by the aging vessel, but are sometimes a blend of aged materials and bottled as a collaboration or for a significant event. Please note, most Chichibu Whiskies are released on allocation. Please get in touch to find out more.