Chichibu Distillery

Ichiro Akuto's micro-distillery: in 2008 the grandson of Hanyu's founder secured Japan's first new distilling licence in over three decades. Two tiny Forsyths copper pot stills, fermentations up to a hundred hours in mizunara washbacks, and over twenty cask types in soil-floored dunnage warehouses. A boutique lab that grew into the world's most sought-after distillery.