The world of Japanese whisky has its fair share of expensive collectibles, from the mythical Karuizawa releases to Suntory’s oldest whisky, Yamazaki 55. But there’s one name that stands out as being the rarest, most collectible, most sought after series of bottles: Hanyu Ichiro’s Malt Full “Card” Series. This week, Bonhams announced that it will have an entire collection of all 54 bottles for auction in Paris next month, and this extremely scarce set is estimated to sell for up to €1,200,000 (about $1.3 million).
Ichiro’s Malt Full “Card” Series is a collection of single cask whiskies from the shuttered Hanyu distillery, sort of the Japanese version of Scotland’s ghost distillery whiskies. Hanyu was founded in 1941, started making single malt whisky in 1980, and closed for good in 2000 (it was ultimately demolished four years later). The grandson of founder Isouji Akuto, Ichiro Akuto, acquired the remaining 400 or so casks of whisky that had been sold off to a holding company, and moved them to his new distillery, Chichibu, for safekeeping. A new version of Hanyu, really in name only, opened in 2021, but obviously the whisky produced there will be completely different from the original.
The theme of this collection is a deck of playing cards—each bottle, was was released between 2005 and 2014, represents a different card with whisky produced at Hanyu in the period from 1985 to 2000. There are only a few complete sets in the world, according to Bonhams, and the one going up for auction stands out because each bottle was signed by Ichiro Akuto.
This is not the first time that Bonhams has sold this collection at auction, however. It became the first auction house to auction off an entire “Card” set in 2015, setting a record for Japanese whisky sales at about $484,000. It set two more records in 2019 and 2020, with the latter sale equaling about $1.5 million. Based on Bonhams’ estimate, this year’s sale could come close to that. “As a pioneer in spirits at auction, Bonhams holds multiple world records for the Hanyu Ichiro Malt Full ‘Card’ set series,” said Amayès Aouli, Bonhams’ global head of wine and spirits, in a statement. “This is an incredible opportunity to acquire the most collectible of Japanese whiskies, with excellent provenance.”
Hanyu Ichiro’s Malt Full “Card” Series will be available for online bids at Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr, Paris from November 12 until November 29. You can visit the website to find out more about how to place a bid.
