Spirits · Chichibu, Saitama

Chichibu Distillery

Ichiro Akuto's small Japanese whisky distillery in his hometown of Chichibu.

Founded: 2008
Founded by: Ichiro Akuto
Based in: Chichibu, Saitama

Shop all Chichibu Distillery (1)Our featured pick

Making it since

2008

Their story

Ichiro Akuto was born in Chichibu in 1965 into a family that has made sake since 1625. His grandfather's generation built the Hanyu whisky distillery, but the family company ran into trouble and was sold in 2004. Akuto borrowed from relatives to save the remaining Hanyu whisky stocks and founded Venture Whisky to sell it as Ichiro's Malt.

He then built his own distillery back in Chichibu, which began distilling in 2008. Its first single malt, Chichibu The First, came out in 2011 and helped put Japanese craft whisky on the map.

A second, larger distillery, Chichibu Daini, opened nearby in 2019.

How it's made

The original distillery runs just two small pot stills, keeping production small and hands-on. The newer Daini distillery uses direct-fired stills and French oak fermenters, adding to the house's range of styles.

Our featured pick

Ichiros Malt & Grain: World Whisky Limited Edition Japanese Whisky (750ML)

$299.99

This limited edition of Ichiro’s beloved Malt & Grain blends Scotch, Canadian Rye, Bourbon, Irish Whiskey, and Ichiro’s own single malt. Once brought back to Japan, each whisk(e)y aged for 10+ years before vatting. The result is a supremely complex spirit spanning an age range of 10–40 years. This world blend is non-chill filtered with no added coloring.

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