Ichiro

Ichiro Akuto comes from a family with a long history of making drinks in Saitama Prefecture, north of Tokyo. After the family's Hanyu distillery closed, he set out to save its remaining casks and later built his own distillery, Chichibu, which began distilling in 2008 under his company Venture Whisky.

Chichibu is a small distillery working with small pot stills and washbacks made of Japanese mizunara oak. Its whiskies are made in small batches and are known for their intensity despite a young age, and many are bottled as limited editions such as the London Edition series or the IPA Cask Finished release.

Under the Ichiro's Malt name, buyers meet the Malt & Grain blends, including the World Blended Whisky with imported components and Japanese Blended Whisky editions, and the Double Distilleries releases, which marry Chichibu with other stocks, such as the 2021 Chichibu x Komagatake. The famous Hanyu card series, including the King of Hearts and the Joker, comes from the old Hanyu casks and is now highly sought by collectors.

Some bottlings have also reached the market through specialist importers such as Number One Drinks Company.