Distillery
Chichibu
Chichibu is the brand/operation of Venture Whisky led by Ichiro Akuto, renowned for handcrafted Japanese whisky produced in small batches, single-cask releases and blended expressions under the Ichiro's Malt label.
- Chichibu · Saitama · Japan
- Since 2008
- 6 products
Chichibu
Meet the producer
The story
The project began with Venture Whisky (founded by Ichiro Akuto) to commercialize the last reserves of the historic Hanyu Distillery; Chichibu's facility started production in 2008. Ichiro Akuto built the brand's reputation both with bottles sourced from Hanyu stocks and with the first distillates produced at Chichibu, focusing on small batches, single-cask bottlings and a wide variety of cask finishes.
Production philosophy
Artisanal, small-scale production with close attention to the quality of individual casks, use of natural processes (natural color, non chill-filtered) and experimentation with multiple cask types to express different aromatic characters.
Territory
Chichibu, Saitama prefecture — a mountainous area about 100 km from Tokyo; the climate has marked temperature swings that contribute to maturation.
Production method
Small-scale production with partial malting (including floor malting for some expressions), relatively long fermentations, pot still distillation, maturation in dunnage warehouses and frequent single-cask and small-batch bottlings.
Distillation
Pot stills (two pear-shaped Forsyth pot stills, small capacity)
Ageing
Maturation in dunnage warehouses with a wide variety of casks; frequent use of finishes and maturation in different casks and single-cask and small-batch bottlings.
Characteristics
- Type
- Distillery
- City
- Chichibu
- Categories
- Japanese whisky
- single malt
- blended malt
- small-batch craft whisky
- single-cask bottlings
- Raw materials
- malted barley
- cereal grains
- Casks and ageing vessels
- Mizunara (Japanese oak)
- Bourbon / ex-bourbon barrels
- Sherry casks (Oloroso and others)
- Red wine casks / port pipe
- Port pipes
- IPA / beer barrels
- Hogsheads
- Representative products
- Whisky 8 yo Single Cask #11037 Imperial Stout 23 70cl - Chichibu
- Whisky Ichiro'S Malt & Grain 70cl
- Whisky Ichiro'S Malt Wine Wood Reserve 70cl
- Whisky Ichiro’s Malt & Grain WORLD Blended Limited Edition 70cl - Chichibu
- Whisky Ichiro’s Malt And Grain 70cl - Chichibu
- Whisky Red Wine Cask 2023 70cl - Chichibu
What makes it distinctive
- Founded and led by Ichiro Akuto, from a family with a long tradition in alcohol production and with experience in the closed Hanyu Distillery.
- Production started in 2008; strong focus on single-cask and highly sought-after small batches.
- Experimental and very varied use of cask types (Mizunara, sherry, wine, beer casks, etc.).
- Practices noted: natural color and non chill-filtered, attention to floor malting on some expressions.