Chichibu Distillery II Whisky Review - Plus a Bonus!

It's finally here! The first official release from the second Chichibu Distillery which began distilling back in 2019. Direct-fired stills, French oak washbacks, and a larger capacity compared to the original - Chichibu II is definitely one to watch!

Image from whiskyadvocate.com

Chichibu II is a separate second distillery to the original Chichibu Distillery, but the two sites are only a few minutes from each other, on the northern outskirts of the beautiful town of Chichibu in Saitama Prefecture, north-west of Tokyo. Since Chichibu II began distilling in 2019 both Chichibu distilleries have operated simultaneously, with the newer distillery producing around five-times that of the original, but still being very small - annual production is currently around 250,000 litres, less than a tenth of what many Scotch whisky distilleries would produce. The main differences between the two Chichibu sites are a much larger mash tun at the newer distillery, French oak washbacks rather than the Japanese oak (Mizunara) washbacks at the original distillery, and direct fired stills at the new site rather than steam coil heating. The larger mash tun is mechanical rather than hand-stirred, and while the French oak washbacks may sound less exotic than Mizunara they're still very unusual - oak in itself is an unusual choice here, let alone the French variety, with most whisky distilleries using larch, pine, or fir woods. But the big news in production at Chichibu II is of course the direct-fired stills. Direct-firing refers to the stills being heated by direct flame from underneath, usually by gas burner, as opposed to indirect heating via steam coils that are inside the stills. While internal steam coils are much more common now, there are a few distilleries in Japan using direct-fire heating, and obviously quite a few in Scotland as well, particularly in their wash stills where the first distillation takes place and where direct-firing has the largest impact. There are two pairs of stills at Chichibu II, and each still been made to the same proportions as the stills used at the original distillery, just upscaled to approximately five-times larger in capacity. 

This NAS bottling is the first release of Chichibu II as a single malt official bottling, and as far as I'm aware there haven't been any independent bottlings of Chichibu II so far. Chichibu II does now make an appearance in Ichiro's Malts 'Double Distillery' blend which contains malt whisky from both Chichibu distilleries, but that's only a recent change - it used to be a blend of malt whiskies from Chichibu and dead distillery Hanyu. This first release single malt from Chichibu II is lightly peated, and was distilled between 30/9/19-20/7/20 which makes it 4-5 years of age, and the chosen bottling strength is 55.5% ABV. There were 95 total casks in the batch, but we don't know the total number of bottles released. Naturally it's non-chill filtered and natural colour as with all single malts from Ichiro's. Local pricing on this one is $295 AUD, which is a substantial amount of money for a young single malt, but relatively reasonable considering that this is the first release from Chichibu II. For those playing overseas that's a similar price to what some retailers are asking for Yamazaki 12-year old, which if you ask me is absolutely not worth that sort of money particularly at 43% ABV and chill filtered. Yoichi 10-year old costs around 10% less than the Chichibu at roughly $260, but is only 45% ABV, bottled in far larger quantities and as far as I'm aware is chill filtered. 

Before we get into the review, as a Christmas bonus there's another one further down the page! An Australian exclusive small batch bottling from Chichibu I, the 2025 edition which was released at Whisky Abbey 2025 in early November. Should make for a fun comparison!

Chichibu II, First Release, NAS, 55.5%. Chichibu, Japan.

Distilled 2019-2020, lightly peated, matured in first-fill & refill ex-bourbon casks. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.

Colour: Gold. 

Nose: Malty, fresh, a little nippy & sharp but not aggressive. Light earthy & ashy peat, cigar smoke, candied lemon, freshly ground malted barley grist/flour, touch of clean fresh sawdust. Lime juice, vanilla pods. Honeydew melon and white peach around the edges. 

Texture: Medium weight. Rich, syrupy, oily, sweet, fresh. No heat here. 

Taste: Rich, fresh, and malty. Vanilla custard, malted barley, candied lemon, runny honey. Lime juice again, white peach, and under-ripe banana. 

Finish: Short-medium length. Light earthy & ashy peat and cigar smoke again, more barley, vanilla pods, and runny honey. Touches of white peach & sweet coconut. 

Score: 3.5 out of 5. 

Notes: Tasty young whisky with plenty of character. For a first release at a relatively young age, Chichibu II certainly shows real promise! It's worth noting that this first release from II is 4-5 years old, unlike the first Chichibu which was 3-years old. Thankfully that bit of alcohol sharpness on the nose in this one isn't present at all on the palate, and there's a nice oily weight to it, plus a great balance of malty & fruity flavours underpinned by acidic and lightly earthy/smoky tones. I would say there's some more weight & texture to the Chichibu II spirit thanks to the direct fired stills and it doesn't seem as bright & floral as Chichibu I spirit, but then this is a first release that is also lightly peated, so it's too soon to say. The first release from Chichibu II is great stuff and offers relatively solid value for money, which can't be said about many younger Japanese whiskies released these days. I recommend getting your hands on one of these - but only if you can get it for RRP!

But wait, there's more! As the Christmas bonus review we have a single malt from the original Chichibu, a small batch release exclusive to Australia. Chichibu Australia Edition 2025 was released in November '25 and is limited to 480 bottles at 52.5% ABV. This one is unpeated and aged between 5-7 years in a mix of ex-bourbon, ex-Californian red wine, and virgin French oak casks. Local pricing on this one is substantially higher at $450 AUD, not cheap when you consider the similar age to Chichibu II, but the latter is a much larger release while this is an Australian exclusive consisting of only 480 bottles. So a similar age to the first release from Chichibu II Distillery but a very different mix of casks, and with no peated spirit or direct-fired stills involved. Let's do it!

Chichibu Australia Edition 2025, NAS, 52.5%. Chichibu, Japan.

Australian exclusive, vatting of 5-7 years of age, matured in ex-bourbon, Virgin French oak, and ex-Californian red wine casks. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 480 bottles. 

Colour: Amber gold. 

Nose: Drier & less expressive initially, malty & fruity, lightly floral. Lemon & lime peels, dried flowers, and drying oak with light tannins (black tea). White pepper, tropical fruits - pineapple in particular, plus a touch of mango. Leafy herbs, roasted nuts, touches of liquorice and milk bottle lollies.  

Texture: Medium weight. Syrupy feel, clean, floral, lightly drying tannic grip. No heat. 

Taste: Fruity & clean. Floral sweetness, yellow tropical fruits - pineapple in particular again, plus mango and a bit of pawpaw around the edges. Milk bottle lollies, lemon & lime peels again but sweeter this time. White pepper, touch of drying oak, and those black tea tannins. 

Finish: Medium length. Tannins carry through with that black tea note, maybe a touch of red grape skins? Plus those leafy herbs again. Floral sweetness with pineapple, white pepper, and drying woodiness. 

Score: 3. 5 out of 5. 

Notes: Another nicely fruity Chichibu with plenty of pineapple, white pepper, and nutty oak. The tannins are adding dryness though which I'm not a huge fan of in a whisky like this - that would have to be coming from the virgin French oak and possibly also the red wine cask components. But it's less dry now than I remember from Whisky Abbey a few weeks ago, probably thanks to a bit of air exposure helping out. There's decent complexity here for such a young whisky at 5-7 years old, but personally I'm not sure I'd pay the $150 AUD extra for this one over the Chichibu II release - as mentioned above, local pricing is $295 for the latter and $450 for this Chichibu I. But this is a small batch Australian exclusive compared to a much larger global release in the Chichibu II, so that's not really a fair comparison. Bottom line is; you can't really go wrong with a Chichibu!

Cheers!