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.

A single malt from the Chichibu distillery selected by La Maison du Whisky and bottled at the distillery by Ichiro Akuto. This second opus in the Paris Edition series is a small batch limited edition of 1,757 bottles worldwide. It is a blend of seven casks - six ex-bourbon casks and a hogshead partly assembled with Mizunara oak. A malt aged for at least 6 years. Bottle equipped with a cork stopper and black foil seal.
Launched in 2018, the Paris Edition series is now in its third chapter. The first version (1,357 bottles) featured various Parisian monuments, the second (1,757 bottles) the entrance to a historic metro station and the third (1,833) the Luxor Obelisk on Place de la Concord.