Unlike the similarly powerful Ichiro`s Malt 2000, this one would benefit from a few drops of water. Undiluted, the nose had a touch of blackberry. The taste was slightly astringent but could still detect the fruit: more blackberry flavoured boiled sweets at this stage. There was a lot of pretty uncompromising alcohol around, especially near the finish. Water might have been a good idea but I was too busy muscling in on my wife's glass of Ichiro's Choice Peated Golden Promise to try it. Overall, belligerent but not inelegant.

Hanyu Distillery was located in a town bearing its name on the banks of the Tone river. The original company was founded from a family business originally established in 1626 by the Akuto family, sake-makers in the town of Chichibu. Isouji Akuto, the 19th generation of the Akuto family, built a factory in Hanyu city, north-west of Tokyo, in 1941 to produce alcohol and obtained a licence to do so in 1946.


In 1980, serious attempts to produce a Scotch whisky-type product began and two pot stills were obtained. At the time, consumer demand was for blended whisky rather than single malt. Since then there has been a worldwide shift towards single malts and in 1990 Chichibu whisky was launched, named after the place where the sake was originally produced. It had two steam-heated stills and a continuous still, along with a Sake brewery.


Unfortunately it stopped making whisky in 2000, with the pot stills and distilling equipment dismantled in 2004. The grandson of the founder, Ichiro, purchased the mature stock and distilling facilities and hopes one day to start a new distillery. A dream that he is currently realising with his creation of the Chichibu Distillery.


<a href="/distilleries/the-hanyu-distillery">Read more about the Hanyu distillery here!</a>