l JAPANESE WHISKY

Chichibu Distillery
Towards a 100% Japanese whisky
By Yumi Yoshikawa

Ichiro Akuto’s famous ‘Card Series’ of ‘Ichiro’s Malt’

whiskies have made him famous throughout the
international whisky scene, on to which he burst in 2004. The pot stills at Hanyu Distillery
condition, with Suntory selling around
The journey to this point was long and hard won, but the 120 million bottles of “Suntory Old”
journey since has been even more fascinating. whisky annually, most of which were
consumed in Japan. In contrast,
imports from overseas, particularly

T he Akuto family have a long history

of producing alcoholic beverages in
Chichibu. The local climate and water
are perfect for making sake, which they
have done here since 1625, and con-
tinue to this day at Chichibu Kikusui. In
1941, Ichiro’s grandfather, Isouji Akuto-
Chichibu Kikusui, Ichiro’s family sake brewery
san built a new facility in Hanyu, located
34 miles to the north of Tokyo, in which
he produced a range of wines and
spirits, in addition to sake. Isouji-san
also saw an opportunity for whisky in
the local market and in 1946 a license
to begin production was granted.
Hanyu Distillery
These first attempts to make whisky
were made using a continuous steel
still, in which other types of spirit
were also produced, such as Sho-
chu. The grain whisky produced was
used to blend with imported Scotch,
as was common practice, and sold in
the domestic market under names
such as Golden Horse. This method of
production continued happily for over
30 years.
By the 1980’s, the domestic Japa-
nese whisky market was in excellent
those from the European Union with
protected designations, were subject
to high tariffs. In this climate, Ichiro’s
father Yutaka Akuto-san took the
fateful decision to change the produc-
tion of whisky to a Scotch style single
malt, and he installed new stills com-
missioned from a Japanese copper
smith. Care was taken to produce the
best possible whisky in the Scotch
style, with water being transported
from Chichibu by tanker, and malt
being imported from England and
Scotland.
Hard times
However, the good times for Japa-
nese whisky were not to last. The
European Parliament noted that
there was effectively a barrier for
European products, such as whisky
and brandy from entering Japan, with

50 z Brewer and Distiller International April 2017 www.ibd.org.uk


The ‘Card Series’ suit of diamonds
ten times more duty being applied
to certain products, such as Scotch
whisky, than Japanese versions
sold under generic names. Conse-
quently, Scotch style whisky was an
expensive product, allowing those
that produced a competing Japanese
product to also be able to charge a
premium. However, this all changed
in 1989 with the enforcement of tax
reforms, which saw the price of im-
ported whisky fall dramatically. This,
of course, pushed down the price of
domestic whisky and together with
the greater availability resulted in
a change of drinking style. People
now preferring the “mizuwari” style
of mixing whisky with 2/3rds water
as a long drink, which unfortunately
does not emphasize the character of
the whisky. Economic decline during
the 1990s was a second blow, and
consumers moved towards the more
economical Shochu for their mizu-
waris.
Throughout these harsh economic
times in Japan, the Hanyu distillery
struggled on, but by 2000 business
was so bad that Yutaka-san reluc-
tantly decided to sell the company.
Sadly, the old Hanyu distillery was
demolished in 2004, but included
in the sale was a warehouse hold-
ing around 400 casks of whisky.
Amazingly, the new owner planned
to simply reprocess the whisky
into Shochu and throw these casks
away to free up space! Ichiro, who
had been brought in to the family
company during the sale, knew that
they must be saved and decided to
purchase them himself. Finding an
alternative warehouse for them was,
however, not easy. But after much
searching, Ichiro finally convinced
Yamaguchi-san of Sasanokawa Shuzo
www.ibd.org.uk
JAPANESE WHISKY l
Chichibu Distillery
Ichiro knew that his stocks from Hanyu
would someday run dry. So, to pre-
pare for this inevitability, and to leave
something for the next generation, he
decided that the time was right to build
his own distillery.
Ichiro had travelled widely while
planning his own distillery, visiting
many other distilleries to learn the
techniques of distillation for himself.
The first of these training opportuni-
ties was to happen by chance, when
Ichiro met an executive of Mercian
Corporation, owner of the Karuizawa
Distillery, in a bar. The distillery had
been silent since 2000, but Ichiro
asked if he could work in the distill-
ery for a few weeks and purchase
sake brewing company that the loss the spirit that he made. This turned
to Japanese distilling would be too out to be a very interesting week, as
great should these casks be lost, old employees of the distillery came
and he agreed to provide space for back to give instruction, and younger
them. This was to be the beginning of members of staff from the parent
Venture Whisky Ltd. company, Mercian Corporation, came
to experience whisky making for the
Venture Whisky Ltd first time.
The first product to be released, in
2004, was ‘Ichiro’s Malt Single Vintage
1988’. Only 600 bottles were produced,
but it took two full years for them to
be sold. Ichiro travelled throughout
Japan, visiting over 2000 bars trying
to sell his whisky. Slowly but surely,
he managed to spread the word and
interest grew in both Ichiro’s Malt, and
his story.
The ‘Card Series’
This laid the foundations for the
release of Ichiro’s landmark product,
the famous ‘Card Series’, with which
Ichiro would make his name. The ‘Card
Series’ was to consist of 54 unique bot-
tlings, each named after and featuring
artwork based on all of the playing
cards in a pack, including two jokers.
Beginning in 2005 with the ‘King of
Dimond’s’, a 17 year old single cask
sherry finish release of 124 bottles,
the series has emphasised the unique
character of each cask, and often
made use of interesting secondary
finishing casks.
The whisky was well received by
the whisky community, with the card
series becoming highly prized by both
connoisseurs and collectors. Ichiro
was humbled to receive his first award
at the ‘World Whisky Awards’ for the
‘Two of Clubs’ in 2007. This whisky
was some of the last to be distilled at
Hanyu in 2000, and was finished in a
Japanese Mizunara oak hogshead for
18 months prior to release. Ichiro training at Karuizawa Distillery in 2006
Brewer and Distiller International April 2017 z 51
 l JAPANESE WHISKY

a total volume of 20hL at 14°Plato. A

Training at BenRiach 2007
A second, and longer, training op-
portunity came at BenRiach distillery
in Scotland, where Ichiro learned
how to make whisky in the traditional
Scottish style from the family owned
distillery.
In October 2007, the construction
of Chichibu distillery was completed,
and equipment fully installed over the
next few months. In February 2008, the
distillery was granted its manufactur-
ing license, the first in 35 years, and
finally production could begin.
Production
Malted barley is sourced from England,
Scotland and Germany, with 400kg
being used for each batch. Varieties
are constantly changing and include
Concerto, Propino and Oxbridge. An
Alan Ruddock AR2000 mill enables
Ichiro to have tight control over the
grist size, which is vital for mashing
performance.
Mashing is conducted in a 24hL
mash tun constructed by Forsyths, us-
ing two batch sparges. The initial mash
in is at 64°C, which is then run off after
90 minutes through a heat exchanger
into the washback at 20°C. The first
sparge is at 76°C, and this similarly
is run off into the washback to give
final sparge is run off into a holding
vessel at around 2°Plato, which is then
recycled for the next mashing water.
The draff is then discharged and col-
lected for animal feed.
The eight washbacks each have a
capacity of 31hL, and are constructed
from Japanese Mizunara oak, possibly
the only such ones in use by a whisky
distillery. 10kg of compressed distill-
ers yeast, from Scotland, is added to
the wort, and together with the natu-
ral lactic acid bacteria present in the
wooden washbacks, completes the
fermentation within 70 -90 hours. At
this time, the wash is approximately
7% ABV. The contribution from the
lactic acid bacteria is very impor-
tant to the flavour profile produced,
and Ichiro works to ensure that they
remain in healthy condition within the
wood.
The wash is then transferred to
the wash still, where, depending of
the character of spirit being produced,
the distillation may run for between
6 – 13 hours. The low wines are col-
lected at 23% ABV, and then run into
the spirit still for the second distilla-
tion. This lasts six hours and produces
the new make spirit at 70% ABV. The
heart cut during the second distillation
is decided by nosing and taste only,
because the flavour is always differ-
ent due to the different barley varie-
ties, fermentation profiles and cooling
water temperature. At the end of distil-
lation, just 200L of new make spirit is
produced.
The design of the stills, both made
by Forsyths, is very important for the
character of the whisky produced
at Chichibu. They are designed to
provide a large copper contact surface
area, in relation to their volume,

The Chichibu Distillery Milling local malt with the AR2000

52 z Brewer and Distiller International April 2017 www.ibd.org.uk


The Chichibu wash and spirit stills
for maximum sulphur impurities
removal. The necks are wide and
straight, again to give good copper
contact time by slowing the speed of
the vapour. The line arms are declined
at around 15° to the horizontal, to
trap the heavy distillates. All this is
designed to produce a rich, heavy, yet
complex spirit.
The new make spirit is filled into a
large variety of casks which previously
held other spirits, such as brandy,
sherry, bourbon, port, rum, wine
and even grappa. Ichiro also uses
first fill Mizunara oak casks, which
although difficult to maintain, provide
unique flavour profiles reminiscent of
sandalwood and agalloch - a resinous
aromatic wood used in many Asian
countries. These are stored in the
distilleries own dunnage, constructed
in the traditional Scottish style with
a compacted soil floor. This helps to
keep the air moist and regulates the
temperature, protecting the casks
from rapid changes. The angels share
A B
(a) Inspecting logs at Hokkaido, (b) This one looks good!, (c) Detail of the medullary rays
www.ibd.org.uk
is between 3- 5% per year, some-
what higher than may be expected in
Scotland, due to the greater range of
temperatures experienced in Chichi-
bu. In summer, temperatures reach
as high as 35°C, while in winter they
can plunge to -10°C in the morning
and at night.
Quercus mongolia
The Mizunara oak (Quercus mongo-
lia) twists as it grows, which makes
cooperage of them difficult. Each year,
Ichiro visits the lumber auction in Hok-
kaido, where he may select just a few
logs that are straight enough to make
casks from. They are dried for a few
months before being transported to
the saw mill to be cut in to planks. The
planks must then be dried for several
years, before they are finally suitable
for cooperage.
At the time when Ichiro was
searching for someone to make his
Mizunara casks, there were only two
independent cooperagesww in Japan.
Brewer and Distiller International April 2017 z 53
JAPANESE WHISKY l
A ‘distilled’ history of
Japanese whisky
1918 Masataka Taketsuru went to Scotland.
1924 First year of Japanese whisky making.
(Yamazaki distillery starts production.)
1929 First Japanese whisky “Suntory Whisky-
Shirofuda” was put on a market.
1934 Yoichi distillery (Nikka) was founded (Their
first whisky was put on a market in 1940.)
1955 Karuizawa distillery founded.
1969 Miyagikyo distillery (Nikka) was founded.
1973 Hakusyu distillery (Suntory) was founded.
1973 Fuji-Gotemba distillery (Kirin) was founded.
1989 Enforcement of tariff reductions.
2004 VentureWhisky Ltd. was founded.
2008 Chichibu distillery was founded.
2008 Yoichi 1987 won an award at WWA.
2017 Thirteen whisky distilleries now in Japan,
plus five occasionally making whisky.
One of these, Maruesu cooperage,
located in Saitama prefecture be-
gan working with the distillery, each
year taking in Ichiro and his staff
to instruct them in the art of bar-
rel making. However, Saito-san, the
owner, wished to retire, and in 2013
announced that he would be closing
the cooperage, and selling his old
outdated equipment for scrap. Ichiro
once again found himself in a familiar
position, and purchased the equip-
ment so that he could learn how to
use it himself, and someday make
his own casks. Fortunately, Saito-san
agreed to also continue his training,
and now visits Chichibu several times
a year to teach the staff there.
Floor Malting
Ichiro has also been learning how to
floor malt barley in the traditional
way, as he believes that this gives
important character to the whisky
C
 l JAPANESE WHISKY
A B
(a) Saito-san at his Maruesu cooperage, (b) Rows of his fine casks, (c) The end of an era
than cannot be achieved by other
methods. Since 2008, Ichiro and his
production team have travelled to
Crisp maltings at Great Ryburgh,
England, where they have been
learning about the process so that
they may do it themselves. In 2012
a malting house was constructed
A
B established in the Japanese whisky
(a) Harvesting local barley, (b) Floor malting at Chichibu, (c)
Germination day 3
54 z Brewer and Distiller International April 2017
at Chichibu, and by 2014 locally
grown barely was being malted here.
Chichibu is famous for its buckwheat
noodles, and so a local farmer was
asked to grow barley as a second-
ary crop. Just 10% of the malt used
comes from this locally grown source
at the moment, which amounted to
15 tonnes in 2014, but as the qual-
ity has so far been excellent, the
acreage is now being enlarged. Since
2016 the floor maltings have been
Splitting logs for staves
The Chichibu Distillery team
C
in continual use, with malting being
carried out two or three times each
month.
Chichibu today
Chichibu distillery now produces a
wide range of malt whiskies, often
of limited bottlings. The hope is to
become the first distillery to produce
a 100% Japanese whisky, using locally
grown barley and wood. Emphasis
is now being put on the construction
techniques used for the cooperage of
the Mizunara casks, which have so far
had issues with leakage and subse-
quent low yields. The possibility of
producing staves by splitting the wood,
rather than sawing, is being investigat-
ed, in the hope that this may produce
staves that have a greater resistance
to leakage.
The Chichibu distillery is now well
scene, with many newer distillers
coming to visit Ichiro for help and
guidance. Trainees are gladly taken in
to help spread expertise, because it
is believed that for Japanese whisky
to be successful there must be more
distilleries, and they must also pro-
duce a quality a product to maintain
the reputation of the whole category.
www.ibd.org.uk