Japan, Saitama. Distillery operational. Owner: Venture Whisky.

Independent & family-ownedIt was in 2007 that Ichiro Akuto, grandson of the founder of the Hanyu distillery, built a new distillery in the north-west of Tokyo, in Saitama Prefecture. Named Chichibu after the city where its located, it brought to a close several decades marked by the closure of numerous production sites, and enabled Ichiro Akuto to renew his family's history of expertise. Despite its small size (production capacity of 80,000 LPA/yr), Chichibu quickly drew attention and became highly sought-after. It was under the name “New Born” that Ichiro sold exclusively his malt for three years. In 2011, the first edition of a small batch Chichibu named The First was released (7,400 bottles). It was immediately welcomed by distributors and the world's whisky enthusiasts, putting Chichibu on the fast-track to becoming a distillery with strong potential as a collectible. Since then, Ichiro has released numerous single casks to respond to consumer demand, increasing the distillery's appeal among collectors. And its next goal? To produce a whisky whose origins is completely Japanese, using local malt and peat.

Chichibu IPA is a whisky finished in an India Pale Ale cask, a beer known for its bitterness. Ichiro Akuto developed partnerships with Japanese breweries in order to exchange casks. This enabled brewers to aged their beers in whisky casks and Akuto to age his whiskies in beer casks. Several single cask and small batch versions have been released, including this IPA finish and a stout cask for La Maison du Whisky. A limited edition of 6,700 bottles.