2015 Ichiro's Malt Chichibu The Floor Malted Single Malt Whisky 750ml

2015 Ichiro's Malt Chichibu The Floor Malted Single Malt Whisky is a 101 proof (50.5% ABV) Japanese single malt from Chichibu Distillery in Saitama Prefecture, the tiny operation founded by Ichiro Akuto in 2008 as Japan's first new whisky distillery since the early 1970s. Akuto, grandson of the founder of the lost Hanyu distillery, revived his family's whisky legacy at Chichibu. This 750ml release is the 2015 bottling of The Floor Malted prepared for the United States market, a limited edition of a whisky already famous in its original 2012 form.

The Floor Malted celebrates one of whisky-making's most labor-intensive traditions: floor malting, in which steeped barley is spread across a malting floor and turned by hand as it germinates. Akuto learned the technique in Britain and hand-malted barley for this project himself, an almost unheard-of level of personal involvement for a distillery founder. The original release was distilled in 2009, when Chichibu was barely a year old.

Maturation combined ex-bourbon casks with chibidaru, the small quarter casks associated with Chichibu's own cooperage, whose reduced size accelerates the interplay of spirit and oak, concentrating vanilla, citrus and malt-driven depth in a young whisky. Bottled at 50.5% ABV without compromise, it shows the intense, textured house style that made Chichibu the most coveted name in modern Japanese whisky. Expect orchard fruit, honeyed cereal and gentle oak spice with a long, warming finish.

Chichibu single malts are produced in vanishingly small quantities, and the US-market Floor Malted appears only rarely. As an early-years release malted by the founder's own hands, it holds a special place in the distillery's story, sitting alongside The First, The Peated and the other foundational Ichiro's Malt bottlings that announced Japan's craft whisky renaissance to the world. For collectors of Japanese whisky, it is a cornerstone piece, and sealed examples with intact labels represent the standard collectors pursue.

• Size: 750ml
• Proof: 101 (50.5% ABV)
• Age: No age statement (original release distilled 2009)
• Origin: Chichibu, Saitama, Japan
• Distillery: Chichibu Distillery (Venture Whisky)
• Type: Single Malt Japanese Whisky
• Cask: Ex-bourbon casks and chibidaru quarter casks
• Production: Floor-malted barley hand-malted under founder Ichiro Akuto
• Vintage: 2015 US-market bottling
• Series: Ichiro's Malt