SINCE 2007

Based in the city of Hanyu in Japan’s Saitama prefecture, the legendary Japanese whisky brand Hanyu sold blends made from grain whisky produced on its own continuous stills and imported malt whisky from Scotland in 40s, But in 1980, with the introduction of pot stills, Hanyu began producing its own malt whisky which continued until 2000.

They stopped distilling whisky during a period of plummeting whisky consumption in Japan, The original Hanyu distillery was dismantled in 2004, and its remaining whisky stocks sold off to Hinode Holdings, Enter Ichiro Akuto, grandson of Hanyu founder Isouji Akuto who witnessed the sale while working for Yamazaki at the time, and decided the precious whisky must be saved.

Akuto managed to acquire not only some of Hanyu’s equipment, but also its remaining 400 casks of malt whisky, which would result in the release of the Ichiro’s Malt Card Series a profitable move that helped him fund his new distillery, Chichibu, Hanyu distillery will be revived in 2021, Toa Shuzo owner of brand Hanyu has announced plans to rebuild the distillery, which closed two decades ago.

The Ace of Spades was originally released in 2005 and comes from a traditional oak cask that was re-racked into a single Spanish oak sherry butt #9308. This is the second bottling, released in 2006.

700ml/55%