Founded in 2007 by Ichiro Akuto, grandson of the founder of the Hanyu distillery, Chichibu has been in operation since February 2008. Consisting of two stills made to order in Scotland by Forsyth’s, it is not only the first Japanese single malt distillery since Hakushu, but it was also the smallest and most confidential. Beginning with the sale in 2008 of several very young cuvées of whisky, the “newborn” range, Ichiro proposed, since the Whisky Live Paris 2011, his first “real” whisky, a three-year-old cask strength. Today, the distillery bottles its own whiskies up to 12 years old for its Chichibu and Ichiro’s Malt range. The distillery also houses the last stocks of Karuizawa, Kawasaki, and Hanyu.

Ichiro’s Malt Wine Wood Reserve is an unusual vatted malt as it is made up of Chichibu, Hanyu, and Scottish single malt. Red wine barrels from around the world are used to finish a variety of malt whiskies. This rare expression has aged in barrels that contained red wine before being refined in Ovum barrels, which are French oak barrels fashioned in Charentes by the Meilleurs Ouvriers de France from the Taransaud team. These exceptional barrels are aged in a warehouse at the Chichibu distillery. This environment with drastic temperature changes helps the maturation and gives a deep complexity. Pleasant tannins, acidity, and dry fruitiness come from the wine barrels, which persistently linger in the mouth. This product is not filtered and may contain sediment.