Hanyu

Hanyu – The Phoenix that rose from the ashes of playing cards

In north-west Tokyo, where the rolling rice fields of Saitama Prefecture stretch along the tranquil banks of the River Tone, one of the most moving legends in the history of Japanese whisky once unfolded. The Hanyu distillery – its name is now an echo resounding through the collections of connoisseurs, a whisper from a bygone era.

It was the year 1941 when the long-established Akuto family of sake brewers, in the small town of Hanyu, laid the foundation stone for a distillery. Five years later, they were granted an official licence to produce alcohol and began making grain spirit. But it was not until the early 1980s that the site came into its own, when two Scottish pot stills were installed , did the place come into its own. What followed was a brief but dazzling era of whisky production – experimental, unconventional and characterised by a dedication to craftsmanship that eclipsed even the major competitors.

But fate is a relentless master. Commercial success failed to materialise, financial hardship grew, and in October 2000 the stills fell silent for ever. In 2004, the last remnants of the distillery were razed to the ground. All that remained were the casks – some 400 of them, waiting to be discovered in the dark storerooms.

And they did not wait in vain. Isouji Akuto’s grandson, Ichiro Akuto, saved the last remaining stock and used it to create the legendary ‘Card Series’ – 54 single casks, each labelled with a playing card, a liquid poker deck spanning the vintages from 1985 to 2000. A complete set of this rarity has fetched prices of up to 755,000 pounds at auction – a hefty price for the spirit of a long-gone distillery.

Yet legends never die – they merely lie dormant. In February 2021, Hanyu was reborn. The Toa Shuzo Company meticulously reconstructed the distillery, with the historic stills recreated according to old plans. Hanyu is back – a phoenix rising from the ashes of playing cards to enchant the world once more with its unmistakable character: powerful, complex, with notes of dried fruit and a hint of smoke – a liquid poem of transience and eternal return.