Hanyu 22 Years Old - SMWS 131.1

"The sinful side of sexy"

This is the first release of Hanyu from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society. From a 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel aged 22 years. This is one of just 212 bottles and as usual from the SWMS bottled at natural cask strength.

Hanyu Distillery was founded in 1941 by Isouji Akuto, a descendant of a long line of sake producers. Located north-west of Tokyo in Saitama prefecture, Hanyu distillery was built in the city of the same name and is surrounded by vast rice fields supplied with river Tone water. In 1980 the distillery started the production of single malt whisky, with the purchase of two Scottish “pot stills”. But success is not to visit the distillery stops producing whisky in 2000, and have finally being destroyed in 2004. Remaining stocks previously stored on the site were recovered by Ichiro Akuto (grandson of the founder of Hanyu) assisted by a sake-maker Sasanokawa Shuzo and were kept there until 2008 when they were transferred to Chichibu, a new distillery founded by Ichiro Akuto.