Karuizawa

A legend of the whisky world. The Karuizawa distillery is open in 1955 in Miyota, Japan, rather near the active volcano Mount Asama. The distillery house four small stills and import Golden Promise barley from Scotland to create their whisky. Which is then often age in Sherry casks. Sadly, the distillery is mothballed in 2001, with their stocks of slowly trickling out to market, where the bottles have become quite the collector’s item for whisky enthusiasts. In 2011, the UK-based company Number One Drinks purchased the remaining stocks of Karuizawa’s whisky. When encountering Karuizawa whisky in the wild, we recommend whispering to yourself “Precious, precious Karuizawa…”

However, bear with us. There is a lot going on, it’s an action pack Boutique-y label. Within the original Karuizawa Distillery at the foot of an active Mount Asama is a lair. Surrounds by four big pot stills and set against the backdrop of a monorail running cask-like carriages. Two ninja assassins abseil into the lair wearing black jumpsuits and balaclavas. Meanwhile, front and slightly center, our whisky guy is taking on the evil henchman. He’s slick, he’s suave and we suspect, he’s swaying a little too.

Karuizawa is actually a vineyard in 1955 when then-owner Daikoku-budoshu decides to enter a Japanese whisky industry still in its infancy, and base a distillery in the shadow of active volcano, Mount Asama.

The distillery is tiny and the aim is traditional, small-scale production to create quality whiskies. Karuizawa uses 100% Golden Promise barley, wooden washbacks. Small stills and sherry casks source from Spain.

Karuizawa’s whiskies are perhaps the closest you’ll find to the Scottish malt style in Japan but they still had their own unique character. The water is filter through lava. And the distillery also experience very hot summers and extremely cold winters which results in a different maturation profile.