Chichibu Ichiro’s MWR

This is a Chichibu Mizunara Wood Reserve, a blended malt vatted from several of the distillery's own single malt casks rather than a single barrel. Chichibu, founded in 2008 by Ichiro Akuto in the Saitama mountains, works on a small scale, so even its vattings are drawn from a limited pool of casks. Wide day to night temperature swings drive the wood interaction, which is why Chichibu reads older than its years suggest.

The malt is built around Japanese mizunara oak, vatted to a consistent style. With no age statement it leans on the cask and the distillery's fast maturation, which gives more depth than the years would suggest. Mizunara lactones give sandalwood and a temple incense note. On the palate the Chichibu signature shows through: bright orchard fruit, a clean citrus lift and a thread of wildflower honey.

Bottled at 46%. The Mizunara Wood Reserve line shows how a chosen wood shapes the Chichibu spirit across several casks. Natural colour and not chill filtered. It remains one of the most collected names in modern Japanese whisky. Demand for the distillery's bottlings has long outpaced its small output.