The Chichibu 2026 releases are four new Ichiro’s Malt whiskies from Japan’s Chichibu distillery, distributed in the UK by Speciality Brands and available from 1 October. The line-up is Distillery II Hint of Sherry (53.5% ABV, £145), Double Distilleries (46.5% ABV, £110), The Peated 2026 (50.5% ABV, £192) and The London Edition 2026 (50.5% ABV, £211), the ninth edition of the UK-exclusive series and the final chapter of its glow-in-the-dark Warrior Series. All four can be tasted at The Whisky Show 2026 (2 to 4 October, Old Billingsgate, London) on stand 25.
What are the Chichibu 2026 releases?
The Chichibu 2026 releases are a set of four new whiskies from Ichiro Akuto’s Chichibu distillery, arriving in the UK through Speciality Brands on 1 October. Two draw on the newer Chichibu II site, two centre on the original Chichibu I, and together they cover most of what makes this distillery interesting right now: a young second distillery finding its voice, a return to heavy peat, the first meeting of both distilleries in one bottle, and the ninth instalment of the collectors’ London Edition.
Here is the quick version before the detail:
- Distillery II Hint of Sherry (53.5% ABV, £145): the second release from Chichibu II, sherry and ex-bourbon casks with a touch of peat.
- The Peated 2026 (50.5% ABV, £192): Chichibu’s first standalone heavy-peat bottling since 2022, malted to 50 PPM.
- Double Distilleries (46.5% ABV, £110): Chichibu I and Chichibu II malts vatted together for the first time.
- The London Edition 2026 (50.5% ABV, £211): 16 casks of Chichibu I, UK-exclusive, and the last of the Warrior Series labels.
Who is Chichibu, and why the attention?
Chichibu was founded by Ichiro Akuto in 2008 in Saitama prefecture, north-west of Tokyo. Akuto comes from a family with a long history in Japanese drinks production, running from sake and shochu through to whisky, and Chichibu was his move to continue that line in his home town after the earlier Hanyu distillery closed.
What separates Chichibu from the big Japanese houses is scale and control. This is a small operation that does an unusual amount in-house, from its own floor malting to its own cooperage, and it built its reputation on single casks and small batches rather than large core ranges. The opening of a second, larger distillery (Chichibu II) in 2019 was the first real step towards volume, which is exactly why two of these four bottles are worth reading closely: they are the clearest signal yet of where the extra capacity is heading.
Under Japan’s tightened labelling rules, “Japanese whisky” now has a legal definition covering where the spirit is fermented, distilled, matured and bottled. All four of these qualify and are labelled as Japanese single malt or blended malt accordingly.
Chichibu Distillery II Hint of Sherry: the second look at the new site
Hint of Sherry is only the second release from Chichibu II, following the site’s inaugural bottling, and it steps the maturity up from four to five years to five to six. It is built mostly on ex-bourbon barrels with sherry casks doing the naming work, and a portion of peated malt runs through the recipe to add a thread of smoke rather than a peat-forward profile. At 53.5% ABV it is the strongest of the four.
Chichibu Distillery II Hint of Sherry tasting notes
Nose: peat smoke, dark chocolate, raisins, candied citrus
Palate: vanilla, honey, baking spice
Finish: long, sweet smoke and lapsang souchong
ABV: 53.5% | Casks: sherry casks and ex-bourbon barrels, part-peated recipe | Age: 5 to 6 years | Price: £145
Chichibu The Peated 2026: the first heavy peat since 2022
This is the one peat chasers will circle. The Peated 2026 is Chichibu’s first standalone heavily peated single malt since 2022, drawn from the distillery’s annual month-long peated production run using malt taken to 50 PPM. Maturation is predominantly ex-bourbon barrels, with oloroso sherry casks and re-coopered hogsheads from Chichibu’s own cooperage rounding it out.
Fifty PPM sits in genuinely smoky territory, in the same ballpark as a heavily peated Islay malt, though Chichibu’s clean distillate and cask handling tend to keep the smoke articulate rather than blunt.
Chichibu The Peated 2026 tasting notes
Nose: toasted baking spices, burnt caramel, roasted almonds
Palate: honey, banana, cooked apple, ginger spice
Finish:lingering grassy smoke, resinous complexity
ABV: 50.5% | Casks: predominantly ex-bourbon barrels, oloroso sherry casks and re-coopered hogsheads | Peating: 50 PPM | Price: £192
Chichibu Double Distilleries: both distilleries in one bottle
Double Distilleries is the conceptual centre of this release. For the first time, single malts from Chichibu I and Chichibu II are vatted together, which is why the label reads blended malt rather than single malt: it combines spirit from two distilleries, both Chichibu. The idea is to marry the elegant, fruit-forward character of the original distillery with the richer, fuller body of the newer one, across a variety of cask types. It is also the entry point of the four at £110, and the only one bottled at 46.5%, non chill-filtered and non coloured.
Chichibu Double Distilleries tasting notes
Nose: apricot, peach, delicate jasmine
Palate: creamy vanilla, honey
Finish: long, baking spices and citrus peel
ABV:46.5% | Casks: a variety of cask types | Type: blended malt (Chichibu I and Chichibu II), non chill-filtered, non coloured | Price: £110
Chichibu The London Edition 2026: the ninth edition, and the end of the Warrior Series
The London Edition is the release most collectors watch, and 2026 is the ninth edition of the UK-exclusive series. This year’s whisky is a marriage of 16 casks, all distilled at Chichibu I, including two wine casks sourced from New Zealand and California alongside first- and second-fill bourbon barrels. It leads with Chichibu’s bright, fruit-forward house style.
The label carries its own story. It is the third and final instalment of the Warrior Series, which began in 2024, designed by Elixir Distillers’ Creative Director Raj Chavda. The artwork is drawn from Musha-e, the warrior prints of ukiyo-e, and depicts a warrior confronting a serpent, or “Hebi”, a symbol Chavda links to protection, wisdom, good fortune, transformation and rebirth. It also has a textured, glow-in-the-dark finish, so the design shifts depending on the light.
The bottle images circulating with the launch are numbered to 2,220, which points to an outturn in that region, though Speciality Brands has not stated an official bottle count. For reference, the 2022 London Edition ran to 1,861 bottles, so a figure around 2,220 would be a slightly larger release.
Chichibu The London Edition 2026 tasting notes
Nose: vanilla, honey, whipped cream, grapefruit peel
Palate: rich apricot, peach
Finish: sweet vanilla custard, cracked white pepper
ABV: 50.5% | Casks: 16 casks, all Chichibu I, including two New Zealand and California wine casks and first- and second-fill bourbon barrels | Edition: ninth London Edition, UK-exclusive | Price: £211
Price and availability
All four whiskies go on sale at selected UK trade partners from 1 October 2026. For readers outside the UK, note that the London Edition in particular is created exclusively for the UK market, so buyers in Germany, the US and elsewhere will most likely need a UK specialist that ships internationally, or a Japanese-whisky retailer that carries allocation.
UK RRPs, for European readers converting at roughly £1 to €1.15, work out at approximately €125 for Double Distilleries up to around €245 for the London Edition. Treat those as indicative rather than shelf prices.
The best chance to try before you buy is The Whisky Show 2026, running 2 to 4 October at Old Billingsgate in London, where all four will be poured on stand 25.
Our take
We have not tasted these yet, so treat this as a buying steer rather than a verdict, and we will follow up if we get them in the glass.
On paper, Double Distilleries is the one we would reach for first. At £110 it is the most affordable of the four, it is the only genuinely new idea in the set (both Chichibu distilleries together for the first time), and 46.5% non chill-filtered is an honest, drinkable format. The Peated 2026 is the pick for anyone who wants Chichibu’s smoke at full volume, and its four-year gap since the last standalone peated bottling will do the demand no harm. Hint of Sherry is the interesting long-term watch, because it tells you how Chichibu II matures as it ages. And the London Edition is, as ever, aimed as much at the shelf as the glass: a fruit-forward Chichibu I in a glow-in-the-dark bottle that closes out a three-year label series, which is collector logic more than value logic at £211.
If you only buy one to drink, Double Distilleries. If you only buy one to keep, the London Edition. If you love peat, you already know.
Chichibu 2026 releases at a glance
| Hint of Sherry | The Peated 2026 | Double Distilleries | London Edition 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABV | 53.5% | 50.5% | 46.5% | 50.5% |
| Type | Single malt (Chichibu II) | Single malt | Blended malt (I + II) | Single malt (Chichibu I) |
| Casks | Sherry + ex-bourbon, part-peated | Ex-bourbon, oloroso, re-coopered hogsheads | Variety of cask types | 16 casks, wine + bourbon |
| Standout note | Sweet smoke, lapsang souchong | 50 PPM grassy smoke | Apricot, jasmine, vanilla | Grapefruit, apricot, white pepper |
| Price | £145 | £192 | £110 | £211 |
| For whom | Chichibu II watchers | Peat lovers | Best all-rounder | Collectors |
Frequently asked questions
What are the Chichibu 2026 releases? The Chichibu 2026 releases are four new Ichiro’s Malt whiskies distributed in the UK by Speciality Brands: Distillery II Hint of Sherry, The Peated 2026, Double Distilleries and The London Edition 2026. They go on sale at selected UK trade partners from 1 October 2026 and can be tasted at The Whisky Show on stand 25.
How much do the Chichibu 2026 releases cost? UK recommended retail prices are £110 for Double Distilleries (46.5% ABV), £145 for Distillery II Hint of Sherry (53.5%), £192 for The Peated 2026 (50.5%) and £211 for The London Edition 2026 (50.5%). At roughly £1 to €1.15 that is around €125 to €245, though international shelf prices will vary.
Where can I buy the Chichibu 2026 releases? They are available at selected UK trade partners from 1 October 2026 through distributor Speciality Brands. The London Edition is a UK-exclusive, so buyers outside the UK will usually need a UK specialist that ships internationally or a Japanese-whisky retailer holding allocation. All four are poured at The Whisky Show 2026 in London.
What is Chichibu The Peated 2026? The Peated 2026 is Chichibu’s first standalone heavily peated single malt since 2022, made from malt peated to 50 PPM during the distillery’s annual month-long peated run. It is matured predominantly in ex-bourbon barrels, with oloroso sherry casks and re-coopered hogsheads, and bottled at 50.5% ABV for £192.
What is the Chichibu London Edition 2026? It is the ninth edition of Chichibu’s UK-exclusive London Edition series, a marriage of 16 casks all distilled at Chichibu I, including two New Zealand and California wine casks alongside bourbon barrels. Bottled at 50.5% ABV (£211), it carries the third and final glow-in-the-dark label of the Warrior Series.
What is Chichibu distillery known for? Chichibu, founded by Ichiro Akuto in 2008 in Saitama prefecture, is a small, hands-on Japanese distillery known for in-house floor malting and cooperage, a bright fruit-forward house style, and a reputation built on single casks and limited batches. A second, larger distillery opened in 2019.
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