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Hanyu Ichiro’s Full Card Series sets new auction record
Bonhams Hong Kong has set a new world auction record for a Japanese whisky collection after Hanyu Ichiro’s Full Card Series sold for HK$7.19 million (US$917,000) last week.
Hanyu Ichiro’s Full Card Series sold for a record HK$7.19 million (US$917,000)
The whisky range was part of the Bonhams Fine and Rare Wine and Whisky Sale, which took place in Hong Kong on 16 August.
Hanyu Ichiro’s Full Card Series had been forecast to fetch between HK$4.5m-HK$6m at auction.
The collection comprises 54 bottles, each representing a playing card in a deck of cards. Each whisky was bottled from a single cask dating from 1985 to 2014.
The Hanyu distillery was founded in 1941 by Isouji Akuto, a 19th-generation descendent in a line of sake brewers.
The distillery closed in 2000. Before it fell silent, Isouji’s grandson – Ichiro Akuto – took ownership of 400 casks from the distillery, and hand-picked each whisky that was released between 2005 and 2014 as part of the Hanyu Ichiro’s Full Card Series.
Bonhams reported a bumper year for sales in 2018, boosted by several record-breaking Macallan sales.
The auction house was bought by private equity firm Epiris in September last year for an undisclosed amount.