Described as a "rockstar" of the Japanese Whisky Scene, Ichiro Akuto waited quite patiently to release Chichibu's first ever age statement bottling.

Born into a family that has produced Sake for over 300 years, Akuto took after his Grandfather, who started distilling Hanyu whisky in 1945. After accruing years of experience at the Suntory Distillery, Akuto re-opened the Hanyu distillery as Chichibu in 2008, buying back 400 barrels of Hanyu spirit to kick off production.