Nose: Pu-erh tea, struck match, burnt twigs, varnish, mixed peel, grapefruit.
Palate: Adds the following to the nose. Fig jam, burnt popcorn and green grapes. Water ramps up bitter elements.
Finish: Earthy, bitter and lots of burnt notes(twigs, popcorn, struck match).
Last Word: Fairly unpleasant and tough for me to finish, especially with water added. For lovers of ‘dirty’ sherry style whiskies a la many a Karuizawa.
Rating: 76/100
*Notes taken from a purchased sample.
Nose: Pepper, nutmeg. oregano, cloves, overripe peaches, brazil nuts, marmalade, mixed peel, medium peat. Water adds a wild flower note.
Palate: Cocoa, coconut, brazil nuts, pepper, stewed apples, salt and medium peating. Water helps define these flavors and ramps up the hot spices.
Finish: Good length on cocoa, coconut, hot spices, eucalyptus, peat and a mineral element.
Last Word: The balance between heat, sweet and peat is a winner.
Rating:92/100
Nose: Straight off the bat I pick up the Kawasaki influence, so sherry cask single grain. Cream of wheat, creamed corn, toffee, pipe tobacco, leather, fresh cut timber, hessian, mint and white pepper. Rich and succulent.
Palate: More of the Kawasaki sherry cask single grain. Chinese 5 spice, marzipan, nougat, pine, pipe tobacco, leather, rhubarb, roasted chestnuts and honey on crumpets.
Finish: Follows the palate with the pipe tobacco and leather prominent.
Last Word: This is a blend of Hanyu malt and Kawasaki single grain whiskies. There have been a number of these with 20YO age statements and different labels and I am not sure if they are the same bottling or not. Well crafted, high end blending.
Rating: 89/90
Whisky enthusiast/writer Ulf Buxrud recently released his web published dedication to all things Ichiro Malt Card Series. 
Plenty of stuff that would have been taken from his book about Japanese whisky but as this web based info is free, a handy reference guide indeed. You can view Mr Buxruds site here and if there are any Card Series fanatics out there that spot any errors please contact me, I’ll be sure to pass it on.
So, as we know 4 of the final bottling’s in Ichiro’s Card Series Hanyu went on sale less than 2 months ago. Now as far as I know, none have made it to Europe or the UK for general retail sale yet, so current access is by auction. This morning a bottle of Ichiro`s Malt 2000 12YO Ace of Clubs sold for 605 Euros on whiskyauction.com. That’s right, 605 Euro’s! The other 3 bottling’s that were released at the same time were up for grabs as well, 2 of them fetching 280 Euro’s the other 264. The 2 that fetched 280 were respectively 21 and 22 years old and the one that reached 264 a 12 year old like the Ace of Clubs.
Why so much for the Ace of Clubs? There was a total outrun of 503 bottles so a fair amount for a single cask. It was finished in a Japanese Mizunara Oak Cask, so was that the reason? The whisky may have only spent months in this cask, so the full effect of Mizunara Oak on the whisky may hardly be felt. How do I know this? I have an open bottle of the 4 of Spades that was also finished in Japanese Oak and compared to something like the Yamazaki annual release fully matured in Misunara
there is quite a big difference in profile. Hanyu’s tend to have an aromatic/wood spice/incense profile anyway, so it’s even harder to tell where the Hanyu house style ends and the Mizunara starts. Also, I have not read a single review for the Ace of Clubs, so buyers are just grabbing these on spec.
The kicker, when they went on sale in Japan the Ace of Clubs sold for under $100 Australian! Maybe I’m the mad one, I didn’t buy a bottle!
Nose: Honeydew melons, cherry blossoms, fragrant wood, pollen, new leather. Late arrival of vanilla. Delicate but expressive.
Palate: White peaches, honeydew melon, apricots, fragrant wood, sweet spices, new leather, cherry blossoms. Again late vanilla. A little water ramps up the spiciness and adds some creamy nuts. Too much water and the wood starts to dominate.
Finish: Fragrant, sweet, spicy, leathery. Works well together.
Last Word:. My preference is Ichiro’s Malts matured in a single cask or two similar cask types such as white oak and bourbon. This is no exception. This one reminds me somewhat of a cask strength Bladnoch or Rosebank with the fragrant wood/wood spice found in most Hanyu’s added to the mix.
Rating: 90/100
Nose: A massive bowl of stone fruits mixed with oak, bran and malt. There is a bitter sweet element (with the emphasis on the sweet). Caramel/vanilla popcorn and some of the floral notes I often find in Ichiro’s Malts. After a while, those floral notes become more prominent.
Palate: Gristy, fruity, oaky, malty, and spicy. Chocolate and marmalade. Water brings the spicy/tangyness to the fore. Just fantastic!
Finish: Long, warming, oaky, spicy, floral and fruity.
Last Word: This is another fine young Ichiro’s malt. It is complex, powerful and balanced. A firm favourite of mine: very moreish but, as it is not easy to find, I tipple sparingly.
Rating: 91/100
Nose: Another woody Hanyu, but not in the same sweet variety as the likes of the Double Distilleries. Lots of varnish, also blueberries, subtle florals and oregano.
Palate: Without water, the spices run wild with plenty of heat. It warms the chest, as one might expect. A fair whack of dry woodiness as well. Adding water (which is pretty much mandatory) brings the florals out a little more on both nose and palate. Become slightly vegetal tastes, including steamed broccoli. There’s also a toastiness, along with black pepper.
Finish: With or without water, this is fairly long, varnishy, woody, spicy and ultimately drying.
Last Word: A little to woody and austere for my tastes. For me, it lacks finesse.
Rating: 80/100
Nose: Reminds me of some sherry cask Scotches (e.g latest Macallan 12) more than a wine finish. Marmalade, figs, oak, chocolate, wood stain, soap. A little spirituous, but that’s probably enhanced by the style of the whisky.
Palate: Initially, very fizzy on the tongue. Orange sherbert? Brazil nut, bitter chocolate, raisins, pepper.
Finish: Pepper, marmalade, raisins. Kind of bittersweet. Quite long, with hot spices on the palate and then butter menthols.
Rating: 79/100
Nose: Gunpowder/struck match, lime, white pepper, mushroom, mixed peel. With water, marzipan comes through.
Palate: Blood orange, burnt toffee, gunpowder/struck match, blackberry, wet earth. With water, the mixed peel zings.
Finish: Sweet spices, blackberries, Christmas pudding drizzled in warm treacle and buttered shrooms. Lots of struck match.
General Comment: Too much gunpowder/sulphur for my liking
Rating: 76/100
Nose: Sandalwood, pine, nectarines, peaches, golden syrup, vanilla essence.
Palate: Needs water to tame the alcohol. With water, sweet woods, tinned peaches, toffee, nutmeg, coconut and mint.
Finish: Long and creamy with sandalwood, nutmeg, coconut and peppermint.
Rating: 88/100
Nose: Orange infused oak. Lemon. Tinned peaches with chocolate custard. Pine, licorice, devilled eggs, camomile tea. Becomes more fresh and grassy with water.
Palate: Milk chocolate, malted shake, grilled red peppers, hint of coal fire. Water accentuates the maltyness.
Finish: Some bitterness playing against the malty sweetness, along with pine, black pepper and ash and smoke.
Last Word: This one became better and better with time. Very complex and well balanced and close to being my favorite Hanyu
Rating: 91/100
Nose: Lovely creaminess. Grand Marnier chocolate liqueur. Smooth beautifully integrated oak. A little walnut and dried pineapple. Exotic incense, teak, the inside of a cigar shop, malt. Then, lots of vanilla, especially when water is added.
Palate: Creamy, nutty, sweet spices, oranges, pine-lime splice (an ice-cream we get in Australia). Water adds a little smoothness and brings the vanilla and malt to the fore, along with fermenting strawberries.
Finish: Long, warming and mouth coating. Lots of sweet wood spices, vanilla and strawberry dough.
Last Word: Excellent stuff.
Rating: 90/100
Nose: Sandalwood, creme caramel, oak, nectarines, glazed orange slices, candied nuts.
Palate: Sweet and very smooth at 60% abv. More of the candied nuts and sandalwood, all spice, oak, toffee and a hint of pipe tobacco. A little water exagerates the candied nuts and tobacco.
Finish: With water it is smooth, sweet but not cloying on sweet spices, Asian incense, candied nuts and sandlewood.
Last Word: Classic Ichiro’s, tasty, and very Japanese, if you know what I mean.
Rating: 90/100
A vatting of sherry, hogshead and puncheon casks
Nose: Rich. Sherry, tinned peaches, caramel, leather, musk, Champion Ruby tobacco, Bourbon-like orange (Woodford Reserve).
Palate: Leather is prominent, lemon, sweet tobacco, Morrocan spice, candied orange, musk sticks, sherry.
Finish: Rich with tobacco, sherry, caramel, musk sticks. Then, a little dry.
Rating: 84/100
Nose: Has some elements that I find in a lot of in Hanyu such as fragrant wood/incense, but also fresh-baked rhubarb and apple pie, brown shoe polish, beef kebabs with capsicum, caramels, toasted oak, anise. hubba bubba. As they say in New Zealand, ‘Choice Bro’!
Palate: Yummy! There’s a fragrant element and a balance between the sweet, meaty and woody elements on the nose, including some cinnamon-dusted doughnuts. Well crafted.
Finish: Warming and palate coating.
Last Word: I hope Akuto-san has some more of these “Chibidaru” (cute/wee) cask matured whiskies that can be released to the general public. A light that definitely should not be hidden under a bushel.
Rating: 90/100
Nose: Plums, overripe peaches, marmalade, cola, burnt toffee, orange juice, pine, pink grapefruit, pipe tobacco.
Palate: White plums, red grapes, pipe tobacco, marmalade, cola, nutmeg, pine.
Finish: Medium length on the palate with plenty of orange juice and a little toffee.
Rating: 87/100
Nose: Blood oranges, raisins, burnt toast, forest floor, menthol with some trailing struck match.
Palate: Mixed peel. menthol, blood oranges, a slight soapyness, cloves. A little dry oak and struck match.
Finish: Short-medium on mixed peel, dry oak, forest floor and again the trailing struck match. Seems a little immature/unresolved.
Last Word: In my experience, sherry cask finished Ichiro’s Malts are the least successful.
79/100
Nose: Dry Sherry, earthy, mushrooms, pine, leather, timber, blueberry. Water reveals a floral note.
Palate: Needs a little water to open up. Dry sherry, oranges, cloves, papaya and dry oak. Extra water reveals some cocoa, sugared fruit jubes and cola.
Finish: Medium on rhubarb, sugared fruit jubes, cocoa, a little dry oak then minty.
Last Word: Lacks the depth of the best sherried whiskies
Rating: 84/100