Prices
Prices and stock come from each retailer's website. Check with the store before you buy.
More from this distillery: All Chichibu whiskies and prices
About
What it is
Released in November 2025 and limited to 480 bottles at 52.5%. The follow up to the inaugural 2024 Australian edition, which carried a Melbourne tram. This one has a Sydney Harbour Bridge watercolour by artist Mark Cowell. No age statement, though the component whiskies are reported at five to seven years.
Where it comes from
Chichibu, in Saitama, built by Ichiro Akuto in 2008. Single malt distilled and matured entirely on site, no imported whisky. Akuto is among the producers who pushed hardest for the Japanese whisky labelling standard to mean something, and Chichibu's releases are the sort people point to when they argue about what the category should be.
How it's made
Unpeated, which separates it from the 2024 release. The cask mix is ex-bourbon, ex-Californian red wine and virgin French oak, an unusual combination that leans on new wood for structure rather than sherry for weight. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. Chichibu's small scale operation, mizunara washbacks and violent seasonal temperature swings mean five to seven years there reads more like ten somewhere cooler.
What to expect
Dry and refined to start, then lemon and lime peel, dried flowers and something leafy and herbal. Given air it opens into pineapple and mango with white pepper behind it. The virgin oak shows as tannin rather than vanilla, which gives it a grip that's unusual at this age. Fruit forward but with an edge.
How it compares
Against the 2024 edition, this is the cleaner, brighter one. No peat, no sherry, and the wine and virgin oak casks push it somewhere different. If you have both, drink the 2024 second. Against Chichibu Distillery II, the first release from the newer site, you're looking at a similar age but very different production, since Distillery II uses direct fired stills and peated spirit. These country editions are small enough that they move into collections quickly and rarely get opened, which is a shame.
