Chichibu The Ultimate Spirits The Whisky Hoop 2023

Ichiro Akuto founded the Chichibu distillery in 2007. The grandson of the founders of the famed, now demolished, Hanyu Distillery, the small distillery was custom built to be one of the world's very best. Ichiro takes no short cuts and is committed to the old style of making single malt. The distillery, situated in Saitama prefecture first began production in 2008. The distillery features a traditional mashtun, Mizunara washbacks, and a pair of small copper stills (2,000L) made by Forsyths in Rothers. The distillery uses ex-bourbon, sherry and hogsheads and ages exclusively in traditional dunnage-style warehouses. The Chichibu distillery has proved unequivocally that top class single malt does not need to be old to be superlatively good and each release is a revelation for those lucky enough to obtain a bottle.