Karuizawa 42 Years Old 1969

Karuizawa was a small single malt distillery in Nagano Prefecture, operating from 1956 until its closure in 2000. While the distillery's fame rests on its sherry cask releases, this 1969 vintage single cask followed a different maturation path: 42 years in a Bourbon cask before bottling at cask strength in 2012 for an event market release, at 61.3% abv.

Four decades in American oak builds a character quite unlike the sherry-dominant releases: deep vanilla extract, old leather, tallow and the subtle corn-derived sweetness that characterises long bourbon-cask maturation. The distillery's distinctive small-still spirit and its Golden Promise barley base come through more directly here, without the heavy sherry overlay, producing a Karuizawa that shows the underlying malt character in a drier, more wood-spiced register. A rare bourbon-cask survivor from the 1969 distillation year.