Chichibu US Edition 2022 Japanese Whisky

Price

$349.95

✔ Authenticated by the house — seal, fill level, and label inspected before release
✔ Documented provenance on every bottle
✔ Climate-safe, collector-grade packaging

Age: | Region: Chichibu, Saitama, Japan | Proof: 101

Secure payments

Vault-to-door shipping

Adult signature (21+) at delivery

Casks

Cask Types

53.5%

ABV

107

Proof

2,233

Bottles

5th

Annual Edition

Beer and cider casks define Ichiro's Malt Chichibu The US Edition 2022: nine casks — ex-IPA, ex-imperial stout and ex-hopped cider wood, with a sherry hogshead among them — bottled at 53.5% ABV, or 107 proof. The fifth annual US Edition from Chichibu Distillery came to 2,233 bottles for the United States.

Nº 01

The Elemental Distinction

IPA, stout and hopped cider. The vatting centers on casks that previously held India pale ale, imperial stout and cider made with hops — chosen, by Skurnik's account, for subtle tropical-fruit and citrus notes.

Five stout casks of nine. The label lists the nine casks one by one: five imperial stout casks, two IPA casks, one hoppy cider cask and a hogshead, which Skurnik identifies as a sherry hogshead.

53.5%, without chill filtration. It went into bottle at 53.5% ABV, 107 proof, non-chill-filtered — the strength of the 2021 edition before it and of the 2023 edition after.

The second 700 mL edition. One US Edition has appeared each year since 2018. This is the fifth, and the second in a 700 mL bottle after the 2021 release.

2,233 bottles. The US release came to 2,233 bottles, more than any of the four US Editions before it; the largest of those, in 2021, ran to 2,150.

Nº 02

The History Column

Printed beside the casks

Next to its cask list the 2022 label prints a short account of the distillery. It credits Ichiro Akuto, grandson of the founder of the Hanyu Distillery, with building Chichibu in 2007, in Saitama Prefecture around 70 km north-west of Tokyo, and dates the start of production to February 2008. Among the equipment it names are a small mill, a mash tun, washbacks of Japanese Mizunara oak and a pair of small copper pot stills made by Forsyths of Rothes, Scotland.

Nº 03

Cask Composition

Nine casks, four kinds

Five casks

Imperial stout

The largest group on the label: casks that had held imperial stout.

Two casks

India pale ale

Casks that had held India pale ale.

One cask

Hopped cider

Listed as a Hoppy Cider Cask; High Road Spirits calls it ex-hopped cider.

One hogshead

Sherry, per Skurnik

The label says Hogshead; Skurnik's sheet calls it a sherry hogshead.

Nº 04

Sensory Profile & Strategy

Beer-cask notes & position

Sensory Profile

Skurnik credits the IPA, imperial stout and hopped-cider casks with subtle notes of tropical fruit and citrus, the reason they were chosen for this vatting. Seven of the nine casks held beer, one held hopped cider, and the single hogshead had held sherry; the whisky was bottled at 53.5% ABV without chill filtration.

Strategic Position

The 2022 edition kept the strength and bottle size of the 700 mL 2021 bottling at 53.5%, but swapped its new oak for beer and cider wood. A year later, the peat-heavy 2023 release under a Commodore Perry label set new French oak at the base of its vatting.

Nº 05

Collector Note & Index

Vault provenance

→

Every cask on the label

The label sets the name on a printed scroll and THE US 2022 EDITION in yellow beneath a small crown, then lists all nine casks by number and type beside a short history of the distillery, with 秩父 in yellow down the right-hand side.

→

700 mL, as in 2021

The label reads 700ml, as Skurnik lists it — the size the US Editions first adopted with the 2021 release.

Collector IndexUS EDITION 2022

Brand: Ichiro's Malt
Distillery: Chichibu, Saitama, Japan
Edition: The US Edition 2022
Casks: Ex-IPA · ex-imperial stout · ex-hopped cider · sherry
Strength: 53.5% ABV · 107 Proof
Outturn: 2,233 bottles

Suntory, Nikka and Mt. Fuji bottles share the Japanese whisky shelf this edition joins.

Nº 06

Technical Specifications

Specification	Detail
Class	Single Malt Japanese Whisky
Brand	Ichiro's Malt
Distillery	Chichibu Distillery (Venture Whisky Ltd.)
Region	Chichibu, Saitama Prefecture, Japan
Edition	The US Edition 2022, fifth of the annual US Editions
Cask / Barrel	Ex-IPA, ex-imperial stout and ex-hopped cider casks with a sherry hogshead
Casks	Nine: five imperial stout casks, two IPA casks, one hoppy cider cask, one hogshead
ABV	53.5%
Proof	107
Format	700 mL
Filtration	Non-chill-filtered
Outturn	2,233 bottles (US release)

Nº 07

Records & Assurance

Production Methodology

Nine casks went into the 2022 US Edition: five that had held imperial stout, two that had held India pale ale, one of hopped cider and a hogshead that Skurnik describes as sherry. Chichibu vatted them with no age statement and bottled the whisky at 53.5% ABV without chill filtration, for a US release of 2,233 bottles.

Authentication & Vault Preservation

Every bottle sold through Midnight Whiskey is sourced as an authentic, sealed product and inspected before it ships. Orders are packed with padded, glass-rated handling and require an adult signature (21+) on delivery; we do not ship to anyone unable to verify legal drinking age. For our full sourcing and handling protocols, see our editorial and authentication standards.

Frequently Asked Questions

What proof is Chichibu The US Edition 2022?

Chichibu The US Edition 2022 is 107 proof — 53.5% alcohol by volume — in a 700 mL bottle. Ichiro's Malt bottled it at Chichibu Distillery in Saitama, Japan, as the fifth of its annual US Editions.

Was Chichibu The US Edition 2022 aged in beer casks?

Yes. Ichiro's Malt built the 2022 Chichibu US Edition around casks that had held India pale ale and imperial stout, together with hopped-cider wood and a sherry hogshead. Skurnik, the edition's distributor, says the beer and cider casks were chosen to lend subtle tropical-fruit and citrus notes.

Midnight Whiskey · The Vault Ichiro's Malt Chichibu · The US Edition 2022

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Ichiro's Malt Chichibu

The Elemental Distinction

The History Column