Hanyu 1988 - 2007 - Cask 9501

Cheers to another Hanyu. This one was distilled in 1988 and bottled in 2007 at 55.6% vol cask strength by the Number One Drinks Company. The kicker for this one is that it was finished in a Japanese oak cask (Mizunara).

• Nose: Smooth oak, spices, slight smokieness, juicy tobacco, tropical timbers, after a while it gets very earthy (like wet flower earth), water makes the nose dryer/dustier
• Mouth: Oily, sweet oak, honey water, nectar
• Finish: Oaky, long and warm, some very light pepper/chili, vanilla and spices

Comment: This is some lovely sweet nectar with delicate wood notes. Works very well without water, but it doesn't harm either giving it a dry edge.

90 points

Hanyu 1988 Jack of Diamonds - #9103

Another Hanyu from the "cards" series. This time it's the Jack of Diamonds. Distilled in 1988 and bottled in 2008. 56% vol. alcohol. It's aged (or finished?) in a French oak Cognac cask.

• Nose: Raisins, oak, some light glue, some light smoke, earthy, heavy sweet ripe apple
• Mouth: Oak, light tannins, juicy tobacco, grapes, raisins, earthy
• Finish: Short-medium long, light tannins, oaky, raisins and pears, earthy, honey, fruity

Comments: Something about the congac finish throws this off balance. The componets on its own are quite good It lacks finesse and harmony

85 points

Hanyu 1995 Ichiro's Malt 15yo

A 15 year old Hanyu from the Ichiro's Malt line (while I think there is only one bottle with this style of label released in Europe, there are a few in Japan) This one was finished in a French oak cask and bottled at 46% vol. with 300 bottles.

• Nose: Malt, sour, earthy, ume extract, oak, Gouda cheese & wine
• Mouth: Malt, earthy, oily
• Finish: Tannin, pepper, warm and long, sweet nuttiness, oily

Comment: Very typical Hanyu earthiness, but I find the oak to be a tad rough here. Generally a good Hanyu with some interesting flavors to discover.

85 points

Hanyu 1988 - 21yo - Noh #9306

This Hanyu was bottled in 2009 as part of Number One Drinks 'Noh' series.
It aged in a Spanish oak sherry butt and bottled at 55.6% vol.

• Nose: The nose immediately is very smoky with oak, apple, glue, cedar and sandalwood, incense and Japanese temples
• Mouth: Oak and some tannin, spices, wood-smoked
• Finish: Warming, malt, various woods, roasted (uncooked) rice, green tea, smokey

Comment: A powerful complex Hanyu which is strikingly Japanese. Highly recommended!

91 points

Hanyu - 2000 - The Final Vintage - Cask 6093

Today's tasting notes are for Ichiro's Malt - The Final Vintage of Hanyu. Distilled in 2000 (the year the distillery closed - hence the final vintage) and bottled in 2010. So it should be roughly ten years old.

Cask number 6093, 349 bottles and 59% vol. alcohol. There are one or two more "Final Vintage" bottles out there as well.

• Nose: Lots of oak, juicy oak, some smoke, a hint of menthol, earthy/raw mushrooms
• Mouth: fairly rich, oak, spices, dry, a bit mint, hazelnut, 
• Finish: Spices, very nutty with fresh hazelnut, dry oak, warming, at the very end a bit more sweetness comes trough as well as some smoke and  tobacco, water makes the mouth and finish generally sweeter

Comment: Quite powerful and impressive for a ten year old whisky. A load of oak, but not too much.

86 points

Hanyu 1991 - 19yo - Daily Dram - Cask 377

This Hanyu comes from the independent bottler Nectar of the Daily Drams and is aged from 1991 to 2010 in a cask with Japanese red oak heads. Red oak (Quercus acuta) is a type of oak native to Japan/Asia. To quote Wikipedia: Due to its foliage and habitat, it looks very unlike an oak. It is usually bushy and densely domed, reaching a height of 14 m. The bark is smooth and dark grey. Leaves are dark and glossy above and yellowish beneath. They narrow to a long, finely-rounded tip. The flowers are on a stiff 5 cm catkin.
Bottled at 56% vol. cask strength.

• Nose: Grapes, juicy raisins, oak, cedar wood, juicy woods, earthy (dry and sandy), with water even more woody aromas like sandelwood
• Mouth: Mild and round, malty and earthy
• Finish: Earthy again, oak, with water the finish is dryer and more oak and wood comes trough, green plants, long and fairly warm

Comment: Very oaky, but it works very well! No tanins or other negatives but lovely well integrated oak aromas (which are fairly typical for Hanyu in my opinion). A tad expensive maybe.

89 points

Red oak (source: Wikipedia)

Hanyu 1988 Full Proof Holland - 9204

A single cask from the now closed Hanyu distillery. Matured from 1988 to 2006 in a Puncheon cask and bottled at 56.3% vol. cask strength.
The bottler is Full Proof Holland and the bottle sports a rather funky label with a short skirted girl designed by Hans Dillesse.

• Nose: Heavy sweetness, very pleasant oak, a tad dry, a bit smoke
• Mouth: Smokey, earthy, wood, dry, fresh garden earth
• Finish: Grassy, first dry then sweet, oak

Comments: A great whisky, great oak influence with heavy sweetness and earthyness.

90 points