The Joker closed Ichiro's Malt Card Series in 2014, the 54th label in a run of Hanyu single malts named after a full deck of playing cards. It is the bottle that completes the set.
About This Whisky
Two Jokers were released. The colour-label Joker is a vatting of 14 Hanyu casks from six vintages, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1991 and 2000, with casks including hogsheads, sherry butts, puncheons, bourbon barrels, Cognac and Madeira casks and small chibidaru. It was bottled at 57.7% in an edition of 3,690 bottles, with whiskies aged from 14 to 29 years. The monochrome Joker is a single cask, #1024, distilled in 1985 and finished in a Mizunara hogshead, at 54.9%, and far smaller in number.
Tasting Profile
- Nose: Turkish delight, rose petal and sandalwood, then toffee apple, plum and polished leather.
- Palate: Sweet and sour, with cardamom, ginger and yuzu peel, dried figs and dates, and mint over old oak.
- Finish: Lingering herbs and warm spice, then a soft close of honey and brewed tea.
Serving & Food
Pour into a nosing glass, unchilled, and let it rest a while. Add water drop by drop to find the fruit behind the strength. Walnut-stuffed dates, a slice of fruitcake or an aged Parmigiano make good partners.
How to Enjoy
Completing a Card Series set, or tasting the widest cross-section of Hanyu's cask styles in one bottle.
Product Details
Producer: Ichiro's Malt / Hanyu
Distillery: Hanyu (closed)
Series: Card Series
Expression: The Joker
Position: Final release of the 54-bottle series
Released: 2014
Style: Japanese single malt whisky
Size: 700mL
About the Distillery
The Card Series began in 2005 with the King of Diamonds. Ichiro Akuto had just saved the last Hanyu casks from being turned into shochu, and worked with graphic designer Takeshi Abe on a label idea that bar customers could ask for easily: one card per cask.
Over the next decade they released 52 cards and two Jokers. Each carried a different cask regime, with first maturation in hogsheads or sherry butts and finishes in Mizunara, Madeira, port, bourbon and new oak.