Private Bottle of Ichiro’s Malt Produced to Commemorate BAR Shinkai’s 15th Anniversary to be Available in Limited Quantities from Tuesday, March 25, 2025
BAR Shinkai, which operates three BAR in Minato-ku, Tokyo, has created a private bottle of Ichiro’s Malt to commemorate the 15th anniversary of its founding in 2010.
BAR Shinkai stores have been serving it since late January, and will start selling it in limited quantities to readers of our website “Japanese Whisky Dictionary” from March 25, 2025.
1. Ichiro’s Malt & Grain BAR Shinkai 15th Anniversary Commemorative Bottle
BAR Shinkai celebrates its 15th anniversary in January 2025. We would like to express our sincere appreciation for your patronage.
To commemorate our 15th anniversary, we have created a whisky exclusively for BAR Shinkai.
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1-1. Product Information
Chichibu Distillery (Venture Whisky Co., Ltd.), famous for Ichiro’s Malt, which is overwhelmingly popular both in Japan and abroad, cooperated with us to produce a limited edition bottle of Ichiro’s Malt to celebrate the 15th anniversary of BAR Shinkai.
This product is a “single cask” blended Whisky, which means that several overseas bottles of the original Whisky, aged for around 10 years, procured by Venture Whisky, are re-casked in hogsheads made by barrel recombination at the Chichibu distillery, and bottled after additional aging for approximately 5 years starting in 2019. The average age of the cask is around 15 years. The average age of the cask is around 15 years.
The project started about a year ago, and we tasted several cask samples picked up by Chichibu distillery and selected this cask considering the balance of the blend, taste, and maturity.
The label design was created by Azuma, a bartender at BAR Shinkai, and features the motif of “Tokyo Tower” and “Zojoji Temple (Taitokuin Reibyo Somon),” which symbolize Tokyo’s Minato Ward, where the three BAR Shinkai stores are located.
Zojoji Temple’s Taitokuin Reibyo Somon, located on the grounds of Prince Park Tower in Shiba Park, is now an Important Cultural Property, and is the mausoleum of Tokugawa Hidetada, the second shogun of the Edo Shogunate. However, most of them were destroyed by fire in the Tokyo Air Raid of 1945.
Before the fire, Zojoji Temple was said to be as beautiful as today’s glittering temples in Kyoto. It is interesting to walk around Shiba Park while imagining the grandeur and splendor of Zojoji Temple during the Edo Shogunate era.
Even in the heart of Tokyo, there are many things to discover when looking back on history.
We would be happy if this bottle could be an opportunity to learn about such history.1-2. Product Specifications
Alcohol content 59% alcohol by volume alcohol category Single Cask World Blended Whisky Cask type Hogshead Content Volume 700ml Number of bottles 259 bottles
1-3. how to purchase
Sales will begin on March 25, 2025 (Tuesday) at the following online stores.
Shinkai Drinks Store ( https://store.shinkaidrinks.com/ )
2. Venture Whisky Corporation Chichibu Distillery
Chichibu Distillery started operation in 2008, and in just a few years has become the world’s leading Whisky maker known as “Ichiro’s Malt”.
Toa Shuzo, which was run by the father of the founder Ichiro Akuto, owned the Hanyu distillery and manufactured Whisky, but when Mr. Akuto took over in 2001, the business was in a slump, and it was transferred to Hinode Trading in 2003. At that time, the decision was made to withdraw from the Whisky business, and the stored Whisky was in danger of being disposed of.
The company scrambled to find a buyer and succeeded in obtaining cooperation from the Sasanokawa Shuzo, and was able to move the whisky stored at the Hanyu distillery to a rented storage facility. After that, together with the Sasanokawa Shuzo, we sold Whisky made from the Hanyu distillery’s original sake.
In 2004, Mr. Akuto established Venture Whisky Co., Ltd. and in 2007, completed a Whisky distillery in Chichibu, which is his hometown and a good environment for sake brewing.
The Chichibu distillery produces single malt Whisky rooted in the Chichibu climate.
The founder, Mr. Ichiro Akuto, takes pride in the fact that his malt Whisky is Japanese Whisky, and produces it by hand with a small mill, mash tun, oak fermenter, and pot stills made by Forsyths of Scotland.
The Chichibu distillery is surrounded by rich nature, clean air, and high quality water. The summer is hot and humid, and the morning and evening temperatures are below freezing. The difference in temperature between the cold and hot in this harsh climate has a great influence on the maturation of the Whisky, resulting in a fruity and well-balanced Whisky despite the short maturation period.
In October 2019, the Chichibu 2nd Distillery will be established near the Chichibu Distillery and begin operations.
The production volume of the second distillery is five times that of the first distillery. The pot still is the same shape as the first distillery, but it is much larger so that they can distill five times as much malt at the same time. The distillery uses a direct gas-fired distiller made by Forsyth.
In April 2023, the company announced that it will build a new grain Whisky distillery in the Rinku Kashiwabara district in the eastern Tomakomai region (Tomatoh), with a total investment of several billion yen starting on May 8, and is currently preparing to begin operations in the spring of 2025.
The company plans to use North American corn as the main raw material for the new distillery, but will also actively incorporate products produced in Hokkaido, while monitoring price trends. In the future, it is not difficult to imagine that they will produce a completely domestic single grain Whisky or a blended Whisky by combining malt Whisky from the Chichibu No. 1 and No. 2 distilleries.
If the operation of the new distillery is stable and the supply volume increases, we can expect a further expansion of the Ichiro’s malt brand lineup and an increase in the supply volume to the market, and it will not be long before we can enjoy Ichiro’s malt brand Whisky more easily.
We will continue to follow the progress toward the completion of the distillery and wait with anticipation for the new Whisky that will be produced in the near future.
4. last but not least
As most of you probably know, there are several types of Ichiro’s Malt & Grain.
There is the most readily available standard White Leaf, the rich Limited Edition, the slightly peppery Classical Edition, and the Japanese Blended, which continues to win the world’s highest award at the World Whisky Awards.
An anniversary edition was also recently released to commemorate the 20th anniversary.
Each of these tastes is constantly evolving and being developed by the blenders at Chichibu Distillery. The blends are made in batches, always in pursuit of the best taste.
The Malt & Grain series is a single cask cask strength, and we hope that you will compare it with the other Malt & Grain series to discover more.
Lastly: Recommended Books on Japanese Whisky
If you want to learn more about Japanese whisky, which is a global trend, we highly recommend these books.
(1).Whisky Galore Vol.29 December 2021 issue
In the December 2021 issue of Whisky Galore, published by the Whisky Culture Research Institute, we report on 11 Japanese craft distilleries, including some that are open to the public for the first time, under the title of “Japanese Whisky Craft Frontline,” the first of three consecutive issues. Why did the popularity of Japanese whisky and the craft boom occur? We will examine with interviews. Chichibu Distillery / Chichibu No.2 Distillery / Mars Shinshu Distillery / Mars Tsunuki Distillery / Kanosuke Distillery / Hioki Distillery / Ontake Distillery / Osuzuyama Distillery / Kaikyo Distillery / Hanyu Distillery / Konosu Distillery
(2). Japanese Whisky as an Education for Business
This is a book written by Mamoru Tsuchiya, a world-famous whisky critic and representative of the Whisky Culture Research Institute, titled “Japanese Whisky as a Culture that Works for Business” .
The book covers the basics of whisky, the introduction of whisky to Japan, the birth of Japanese whisky, advertising strategies and the rise of Japanese whisky, and the current rise of craft distilleries. This is a book that summarizes Japanese whisky in a very easy to understand way.
(3). Whisky and I (Masataka Taketsuru)
Masataka Taketsuru, the founder of Nikka Whisky, devoted his life to brewing whisky in Japan. This is a revised and reprinted version of the autobiography of a man who simply loved whisky and talked about himself. The book vividly depicts the days when he went to Scotland alone to study as a young man and overcame many hardships to complete Japanese whisky, as well as his companion, Rita.
(4). A Letter of Challenge from a New Generation Distillery
Launching in 2019. With the world experiencing an unprecedented whisky boom, what were the managers of craft distilleries thinking and what were their thoughts as they took on the challenge of making whisky? This book tells the stories of 13 craft distillery owners, including Ichiro Hido of Venture Whisky, famous for his Ichirose Malt, who inspired the birth of craft distilleries in Japan.
(5). Whiskey Rising
This is the Japanese version of Whisky Risng, published in the US in 2016, with much updated content. Not only does it describe the history of Japanese whisky in detail, but it also includes data on all the distilleries in Japan, including the craft distilleries that have been founded in recent years. The book also includes descriptions of the legendary bottles that have been released, as well as information on bars where Japanese whisky can be found.
