Bonhams has placed an estimated value of €700,000 to €1,200,000 (£586,000 to £1,004,000) on the Hanyu Ichiro Full Card Series.
This remarkable collection includes 54 bottles, all of which bear the signature of the esteemed master distiller Ichiro Akuto.
Amayès Aouli, the global head of wine and spirits at Bonhams, remarked: ‘This presents a fantastic opportunity to acquire the most sought-after Japanese whiskies, boasting an exceptional provenance.
‘The fact that every bottle is personally signed by the master distiller, Ichiro Akuto, adds to the uniqueness of this set.’
Isouji Akuto, a 19th generation descendant from a family renowned for sake brewing, established the Hanyu distillery in 1941. His ambition was to craft exceptional single malts, drawing inspiration from the finest Scotch whisky.
The Hanyu distillery halted its production in 2000, but before that, his grandson, Ichiro Akuto, managed to secure around 400 casks.
Inspired by his grandfather’s dedication to whisky, Ichiro Akuto utilized the remaining spirits to develop the Full Card Series.
This series includes 54 bottles, each representing a card from a complete deck, including the two jokers.
Each ‘card’ comes from a unique cask of whisky that was aged between 1985 and 2000. The single malts were made available for purchase from 2005 to 2014, but today, they are incredibly hard to find, making it quite rare for a single collector to possess an entire ‘deck’.
As per Bonhams, there are only a limited number of complete sets of the full series in existence. Back in 2015, Bonhams made history as the first auction house to auction off the entire Hanyu Full Card Series, achieving a remarkable price of HK$3,797,500 (£377,000), which set a new world record for Japanese whisky.
In 2019, Bonhams managed to sell the Full Card Series once more, garnering HK$7,192,000 (£713,000). Then, in 2020, the auction house broke its own record again by selling the Hanyu Card Series for a staggering HK$11,890,600 (£1,180,000).
Now, Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr in Paris has procured yet another Hanyu Full Card Series, which was meticulously assembled by a private collector.
Clément Gaillard, a specialist in spirits at Bonhams, remarked: ‘With a limited production, this collection is among the most coveted whisky collections worldwide. Owning this series means possessing an extraordinary piece of whisky history.
The auction will kick off online at Bonhams on 12 November and will wrap up on 29 November.
Ichiro Akuto currently operates the renowned Chichibu Distillery located in Saitama Prefecture, and he is recognized as a pivotal figure in the revival of Japanese whisky.