Ever expanding their reach into new areas of the global whisky industry, the Spirit of Speyside Festival has announced that this year’s programme will feature Japanese whisky for the first time.

Yumi Yashikawa, the global ambassador for Chichibu Distillery, recently announced that Chichibu will be a part of the 18th Annual Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival event. The festival will be held in Scotland in the Speyside whisky region from April 27th to May 1st of this year.

Started in 1999 to feature the best single-malt whiskies in Speyside, which is known for having the most distilleries out of all the whisky regions in Scotland, the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival is a global-scale event that attracts whisky lovers from all over the world. With over 500 events in the program, tastings, auctions, and distillery tours are just a few of the many exciting activities you can do at this festival.

Chichibu Distillery will be hosting a seminar called “Everything About Chichibu Distillery” where Yashikawa will give participants a behind-the-scenes view of the distillery as well as samples of new whiskies that haven’t been released in the U.K. The event will take place at the Craigellachie-based Highlander Inn, which is owned by Tatsuya Minagawa, who has one of the most extensive Japanese whisky collections in Southeast Asia.

Chichibu Distillery, owned by Venture Whisky Ltd., is the smallest distillery in Japan.  We expect that the exposure from the Speyside Whisky Festival will bring more attention to this noteworthy distillery. Check out some of our Chichibu Distillery whiskies here:

• Ichiro’s Malt – Mizunara Wood Reserve
• Ichiro’s Malt Set (3 bottles)
• Ichiro’s Malt Chichibu The Peated
• Ichiro’s Malt & Grain Chichibu Blended Whisky

Chichibu Distillery specializes in more heavy-bodied Japanese whiskies that aren’t considered “easy to drink” like other popular Japanese whiskies, so the drams will be more peaty and have a bite to them, similar to the whiskies you would find in the Islay whisky region in Scotland. Another interesting fact about Chichibu Distillery is that they sometimes release rare whiskies from closed Japanese distilleries, such as Hanyu, for example the Playing Card Series. If you’re planning to go to the Speyside Whisky Festival in April, be sure to stop by the Highlander Inn to attend the Chichibu Distillery seminar.