Ichiro Malt and Grain 111 Proof Review
In-Depth Review
The story of Hanyu distillery is well-known. Founded in 1941 and closed in 2004 due to difficult economic conditions, the original founder’s grandson, Ichiro Akuto, began his own whisky distillery in 2008 – launching a modernized Chichibu brand with a series of special single barrels of old Hanyu stock and a core product line using sourced whiskies from around the world. And while this modern Chichibu has quickly become a storied name in its own right, its core products are often overlooked as blended, non-age stated products that use little of Chichibu’s own distillate.
In recent years however, Chichibu has expanded its core range to include numerous iterations of its “Malt and Grain” expressions, culminating in this higher proof, orange label expression called Malt and Grain 111 proof. Sourced from whiskies around the world and coming in at 55.5% ABV, with natural color, and non-chill filtered, this retails for around $85 and promises to be a more amped version of their typically more subtle and refined lower proof expressions. I picked this up from K&L Wines in Hollywood for around $60, which is a screaming deal. But is it worthy of the Ichiro Akuto name? Let’s dive in and find out.
Age: Non-Age Stated
ABV: 55.5%
Cask: Various
MSRP: $85
Distillery Name: Chichibu (Blend of Many)
Review Date: 7/5/25
Color: 12 Karat Gold (medium straw)
Nose: The nose begins with citrus and bramble berries with a subtle smokiness that blends well with Juicy Fruit gum and a touch of minerality. As it settles more fusel oils, white smoke, and a soft ashiness waft from the glass.
Palate: On the palate, you’re immediately hit with serious heat backed by strong malty, grain focused flavors that feel middle of the road for a typical scotch whisky but a bit unusual for Japanese. There’s fresh rye bread, flat lemon lime soda, and a clean white smoke. At times, this feels like a younger scotch grain whisky – very spirit driven and with an artificial sweetness that permeates the entire experience, leaving a cloying feeling that sticks to the tongue in a borderline unpleasant way. Decent mouthfeel, but nothing remarkable. Despite its pedigree, this struggles on the palate.
Finish: The heat cranks up as it moves into the long finish with more sour beer malt, more ash, white smoke, and a touch of orange cream soda. The smoke lingers well between sips and is reminiscent to some of the Caol Ila’s I’ve recently had.
Final Thoughts: I had high expectations for Ichiro’s Malt and Grain 111 expression, but sadly, it struggles to live up to its own pedigree. It’s hard to shake the artificial cloying sweetness, and it never seems to find its footing with any significant depth on the palate. While I very much enjoy the standard white label Malt and Grain expression, this version cranked up 111 proof version comes off as significantly smokier, with a less nuanced and refined palate, and too much of a grain driven character for my liking. While it isn’t Chichibu’s best outing, it’s still a serviceable pour that likely makes an incredible highball. It can seem like a waste to use something that retails for $85 in a cocktail, but unless you like an incredibly spirit driven character – a highball may be where this 111 expression excels the most.
