Prices
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More from this distillery: All Chichibu whiskies and prices
About
What it is
Released in October 2025, this is Chichibu's second age-stated single malt, following The First Ten in 2020. Matured a minimum of ten years and bottled at 50.5%. The Distillery #1 reference points to the original Chichibu distillery rather than Chichibu II, the larger site opened in 2019, which now has its own releases.
Where it comes from
Chichibu, in Saitama, built by Ichiro Akuto in 2008. It was the first new whisky distillery in Japan in 35 years. Everything is distilled, matured and bottled on site, and Akuto has been vocal about his whisky being Japanese whisky in the full sense rather than the loose one. We haven't located a formal producer statement against the Japan Spirits and Liqueurs Makers Association standard, but there's no imported component in the single malts.
How it's made
Chichibu runs small and manual: a small mill, hand stirred mash tun, mizunara washbacks and Forsyths pot stills. The distillery sits in a valley with brutal winters and hot, humid summers, which drives maturation faster than the age would suggest. This release is built primarily on ex-bourbon barrels, with sherry and wine casks filling it out. Non-chill filtered, natural colour, as with all of Ichiro's single malts.
What to expect
Chichibu's house style is fruit forward and it's all here. Pineapple and mango on the nose with vanilla and honey, then orange peel, peach and redcurrant, finishing with white pepper and roasted malt. Ten years in Chichibu's climate does more than ten years in Speyside would, so it drinks older than the number.
How it compares
Against The First Ten from 2020, this is the follow up and comes from a wider cask spread. Against the Chichibu Distillery II inaugural release, a four to five year old at 55.5%, this is the older, more settled bottle and the II is the look at where the house style is going. Against most Japanese single malts at ten years it's stronger, unfiltered and uncoloured, which is not the norm.
