Laying Down Your Cards - Hanyu The Jokers

                  

The final cards of the deck are in play. The long awaited Jokers of Akuto Ichiro's "Card Series" are finally out - the last remaining cards of the whisky series that has gained cult status world wide. The patiently awaited Jokers are naturally very limited (well at least one Joker is in terms of outturn) and will be in very high demand. For quite some time there was a lot of speculation as to when the Jokers would be released and whether or not there would in fact actually be two versions of the Joker to complete the famed series (colour /black & white). Yesterday, Venture Whisky sent an email to their distributors revealing what many of you already knew - information has been circulating on the net for some time. The colour version of the Joker is a vatting of 6 vintages from 1985 through to the final Hanyu vintage of 2000 (cask types: sherry butt, puncheon, hogshead, cognac, chibidaru, maderia hogshead, and bourbon). This tasty sounding vatting has produced an outturn of 3,690 bottles and is bottled at 57.7% abv. The second Joker in black, white, and shades of grey however is a single cask with a release of 241 bottles from 1985 (cask# 1024), bottled at 54.9%, and finished in a Mizunara hogshead. Prices will naturally differ depending on the retailer but the suggested retail price for the colour Joker is 14,000 yen (excluding tax), while the single cask Joker has a recommended retail price of 36,000 yen (excluding tax). At this stage it is not clear when the Jokers will officially be sent out from Chichibu therefore, as to when they will hit the shelves all depends. Although this is extremely exciting news for fans alike, some hardcore enthusiasts of the "Card Series" have expressed both happiness and sadness, the former for obvious reasons, but its the later which has become the new topic of discussion. For many the final "Cards" mark the end of an entertaining era, an era in which some have been there from the beginning right to the end (painstakingly accumulating each and every card). While some take the news sadly others seem to embrace the final expressions (Jokers) in the series as it opens doors to new possibilities, themes perhaps (naturally depending on the small amount of casks left, and what Akuto-san plans to do with them). Wouldn't it be good to see one last injection/fix - additional releases to the "Card Series"? A release along the lines of say the "Playing Series" - Royal Flush, Full House, Black Jack etc etc. Perhaps I'm living in a fantasy world!

Whiskies R Us review of the the colour Joker can be viewed (here).