Written by Mika Tanimoto, Owner-Bartender, Bar Little Happiness — Hiroshima’s specialist whisky & rum bar with 1,000+ bottles
On July 4, 2026, Bar Little Happiness in Hiroshima hosts a special tasting event with Ian Chang — Master Blender of Komoro Distillery, Nagano Prefecture, and formerly Master Blender of Kavalan Distillery for fifteen years.
This event came about in the kind of way that feels arranged by forces beyond ordinary planning. In March 2026, I attended the Komoro Whisky Festival in Nagano — specifically to see Ian Chang and hear his session alongside Kuroha-san from Asaka and Ishihara-san from Kanosuke. I left that session with my mind in several places at once, and with the immediate decision to visit Kavalan Distillery in Taiwan as soon as possible, to understand where Ian Chang’s craft had formed over fifteen years.
A few weeks later, an email arrived from Ian Chang’s team. Would Bar Little Happiness like to host a tasting?
My first reaction was that it was probably a mistake. My second reaction, when the email proved entirely genuine, was something more difficult to describe.
Who Ian Chang Is
Ian Chang joined Kavalan Distillery in 2005 before the building was finished, as a young food science graduate from the University of Reading who had passed a taste test. Under the mentorship of Dr. Jim Swan — the Scotch whisky consultant described as the industry’s Einstein — he developed into the Master Blender who guided Kavalan through its extraordinary decade of international recognition. After Dr. Swan’s death in 2017, Ian Chang continued the work, accumulating more than 500 personal gold medals and trophies in international competition.
In 2020, he moved to Komoro Distillery in Japan’s Nagano Prefecture, at 910 metres above sea level, to pursue what Kavalan’s climate could never allow: an age-stated whisky made in conditions closer to Scotland’s.
The Tasting
This is a limited, intimate event — focused on tasting and conversation, not a large public function. Details and ticket information are available through Bar Little Happiness’s official LINE account.
Read the full Japanese announcement: little-happiness.jp/columns/ian-chang-komoro-tasting-2026-07-04/
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