Chichibu

When his family's Hanyu distillery was scrapped, Ichiro Akuto rescued the casks (the legendary 'Card Series' now sells for fortunes) and built his own tiny distillery at Chichibu in 2008 — the first new malt distillery in Japan for decades. With stills barely taller than a person, local mizunara wood, and a floor maltings, Chichibu releases sell out on announcement. Proof that in whisky, small plus obsessive beats big almost every time.