Well, we'll just admit it - we definitely did not see it coming that Mickey Mouse would make an appearance on a Chichibu Japanese Single Malt label, specifically for the Chichibu US Edition 2024!

But then again, folks in the entertainment industry have been shedding some light on this - the landmark Mickey Mouse animation short Steamboat Willie, which is also the earliest appearance of the Mickey Mouse character, was due for its copyright to expire at the start of 2024, 95 years after its debut.

That means that the vintage Mickey Mouse likeness used in the short is now free for use as part of the public domain! This allows folks to incorporate the iconic character into any range of illustrations.

Yet, don't get any funny ideas about using Mickey Mouse wherever you find him - this is only limited to his likeness in the animation for Steamboat Willie, which while arguably is our favourite look on him, is also not quite up to date with how he looks like today!

But back to the whisky - this Chichibu, bottled for the 2024 edition of the annual US Edition, is bottled at 53.5% ABV, with no indication of its age thus far.

Why do we have a gut feeling that the Chichibu US Edition 2024 is going to be a grail?