Chichibu US Edition 2023 Peated Whisky

Price

$329.95

✔ 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

4–7

Years in Cask

53.5%

ABV

107

Proof

2,640

Bottles

700mL

Format

6th

Annual Edition

Ichiro's Malt Chichibu The US Edition 2023 pairs heavy peat with a base of new French oak, married with whisky from sherry, Mizunara-hogshead and chibidaru casks. Its 2,640 bottles, at 53.5% ABV or 107 proof, carry an illustrated label: Commodore Matthew Perry with a dram of Ichiro's Malt under the cherry blossoms of Washington, D.C.

Nº 01

The Elemental Distinction

Heavily peated. High Road Spirits and Skurnik both describe the edition as heavily peated; Skurnik's sheet adds that it was distilled from 100% malted barley.

New French oak at the base. The base whisky matured in new Taransaud T5 French oak, virgin casks, and was married with whisky from sherry, Mizunara-hogshead and chibidaru casks — chibidaru being the small casks Chichibu uses.

More than fourteen casks. High Road Spirits records a vatting of more than fourteen casks, holding whisky four to seven years old.

A picture on the label. The label sets a scene: Commodore Matthew Perry, a central figure in nineteenth-century relations between the United States and Japan, raising a dram of Ichiro's Malt beneath cherry trees in Washington, D.C.

2,640 bottles. The US release reached 2,640 bottles, the most of the first six US Editions.

Nº 02

Perry and the Cherry Trees

The 2023 label

The scene on the 2023 label folds two moments of American and Japanese history into one. Commodore Matthew Perry was a key figure in nineteenth-century relations between the United States and Japan; the flowering trees around him, with the Capitol dome rising behind them, are the Washington cherry trees given by Tokyo's mayor, Yukio Ozaki, with the chemist Jokichi Takamine. High Road Spirits calls the result an anachronistic label: Perry with a dram of Japanese single malt, under trees that came to Washington in the next century.

Nº 03

Cask Composition

A French oak base

Base

New Taransaud T5 French oak

Virgin French oak casks held the base of the vatting.

Sherry

Sherry wood

Married into the base, per High Road Spirits.

Mizunara

Mizunara hogshead

A hogshead of Japanese Mizunara oak.

Chibidaru

Chichibu's small casks

The distillery's own small cask size, listed as chibi daru.

Nº 04

Sensory Profile & Strategy

Tasting note & position

Sensory Profile

High Road Spirits' note for the 2023 edition finds orange peel, mint, loquat and melon on the nose, then a full, gently sweet palate, and a finish that turns nutty and herbal. Peat and new French oak lead; the sherry, Mizunara and chibidaru casks were married in around that base.

Strategic Position

Where the 2022 vatting of IPA, imperial stout and hopped cider casks took its character from beer and cider wood, the 2023 edition was heavily peated and built on new French oak. The year after, the unpeated 2024 edition of fifteen bourbon barrels and a sherry hogshead turned the other way again.

Nº 05

Collector Note & Index

Vault provenance

→

Perry under the blossoms

Below a cream name band, a salmon frame holds the picture: Perry in a dark naval uniform with gold buttons raises a glass while a companion with a topknot, his back to the viewer, holds the bottle; 秩父 runs in white beside Perry and a gold Ichiro's Malt emblem sits low on the left.

→

Sold only in the United States

Skurnik describes the 2023 edition as US-exclusive; its US release was 2,640 bottles.

Collector IndexUS EDITION 2023

Brand: Ichiro's Malt
Distillery: Chichibu, Saitama, Japan
Edition: The US Edition 2023
Peat: Heavily peated
Strength: 53.5% ABV · 107 Proof
Outturn: 2,640 bottles

For other malts and blends from Japan, peated and unpeated, see the Japan collection, Hibiki to Ichiro's Malt.

Nº 06

Technical Specifications

Specification	Detail
Class	Single Malt Whisky
Brand	Ichiro's Malt
Distillery	Chichibu Distillery (Venture Whisky Ltd.)
Region	Chichibu, Saitama Prefecture, Japan
Edition	The US Edition 2023, sixth of the annual US Editions
Peat	Heavily peated
Cask / Barrel	New Taransaud T5 French oak, with sherry, Mizunara-hogshead and chibidaru casks
Casks	More than fourteen
Age	Components aged 4 to 7 years
ABV	53.5%
Proof	107
Format	700 mL
Filtration	Non-chill-filtered
Outturn	2,640 bottles (US release)

Nº 07

Records & Assurance

Production Methodology

The heavily peated malt was fermented for 100 hours in Mizunara oak washbacks and distilled twice in Forsyths copper pot stills. Its base matured in new Taransaud T5 French oak; whisky from sherry, Mizunara-hogshead and chibidaru casks was married in, and the vatting — four to seven years old — was bottled for the United States at 53.5% ABV without chill filtration.

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

Is Chichibu The US Edition 2023 peated?

Yes, heavily. Ichiro's Malt made the 2023 Chichibu US Edition from malted barley that both its importer, High Road Spirits, and its distributor, Skurnik, describe as heavily peated. It was bottled at 53.5% ABV, or 107 proof.

Who is on the label of Chichibu The US Edition 2023?

Commodore Matthew Perry, the US naval officer central to nineteenth-century relations between the United States and Japan. The 2023 Chichibu US Edition label shows him enjoying a dram of Ichiro's Malt in Washington, D.C., among cherry blossoms.

What oak is Chichibu The US Edition 2023 aged in?

The base of the 2023 Chichibu US Edition matured in new Taransaud T5 French oak casks. Ichiro's Malt married it with whisky from sherry, Mizunara-hogshead and chibidaru casks — chibidaru are Chichibu's small casks — at four to seven years old.

Midnight Whiskey · The Vault Ichiro's Malt Chichibu · The US Edition 2023

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Ichiro's Malt Chichibu

The Elemental Distinction

Perry and the Cherry Trees