Written by Mika Tanimoto, Owner-Bartender, Bar Little Happiness — Hiroshima’s specialist whisky & rum bar with 1,000+ bottles
Floor malting is one of those practices that sounds simple until you understand what it involves. Barley is soaked, then spread across a stone floor several inches deep, then turned by hand — constantly, in rotation, around the clock — for days, to prevent the germinating grain from matting and to ensure even development. The work is cold, damp, and physically unrelenting.
Most distilleries stopped doing this decades ago. Industrial maltings produce consistent results at scale, and the economics of maintaining floor malting operations are difficult to justify.
Chichibu Distillery does it anyway.
The Origin: Ichiro’s Malt and the Hanyu Legacy
Chichibu was established in 2007 by Ichiro Akuto, whose family had previously operated Hanyu Distillery until its forced closure. The surviving Hanyu casks — rescued when a competitor offered warehouse space, saying “this would be a loss for the industry” — became the foundation of Ichiro’s Malt while Akuto rebuilt his distilling operation from the ground up in the mountains of Chichibu, Saitama.
The distillery produces approximately 90,000 litres of spirit per year — small by any standard, with a waiting list for most bottles that reflects demand far exceeding supply.
What the Floor Malting Contributes
Chichibu’s floor malting programme uses locally grown barley from the surrounding agricultural area. The malt produced carries a slightly different character from commercially malted barley — more rustic, with an earthiness that reflects specific grain, specific climate, and specific hands. When I participated in the floor malting experience at the distillery, the physical reality of the work was immediately apparent. The floor is cold. The grain is heavy. What takes minutes to describe takes days to accomplish.
Choices that cost more, take longer, and require more attention leave traces. At Chichibu, those traces accumulate into something that whisky drinkers around the world have recognised as genuinely exceptional.
Ichiro’s Malt / Chichibu bottles are available at Bar Little Happiness. Read the full Japanese column: little-happiness.jp/columns/chichibu-distillery-floor-malting-experience/
Bar Little Happiness | Hiroshima, Japan
Rum & Whisky specialists | 1,000+ bottles | English menu available
Open Mon–Sat 7PM–12:30AM, Sun 7PM–midnight
No cover charge. Walk-ins welcome.
english.little-happiness.jp