It started three centuries ago when Ichiro Akuto’s grandfather began making alcoholic beverages in countryside of Saitama, Japan. His grandfather opened the now legendary Hanyu Distillery in the mid-1940’s and began making malt whiskies. However, when the bubble burst in the 1990’s, Hanyu distillery had to close their doors indefinitely. Ichiro saved his grandfathers’ last remaining whisky casks and slowly released them in a variety of bottlings. His final release, The Playing Card Series, is now legendary with individual bottles being considered the unicorns of the Japanese whisky world.

With this success Ichiro saw that the revival of artisan Japanese whisky was imminent and opened his own distillery in the beautiful Chichibu region two hours west of Tokyo. Uniquely, Chichibu Distillery also built its own cooperage and floor malting facility on site. The distillery is also the only in the world to use 100% Mizunara Japanese oak wash backs.

This particular bottle was distilled in 2012 and matured for 8 years in a red wine cask before bottling in 2020. It brings a rich and fruity array of notes to the table, including winter berries, cinnamon spice and gentle nutmeg. It's a real show-stopper and with only 229 bottles produced, it's also highly collectible. 

This bottle qualifies for US Preferred Shipping to select states. Click here for more information about qualifying states.