Karuizawa 45 Years Old Cask #2725

Karuizawa distillery in Nagano Prefecture produced single malt whisky from 1956 until its closure in 2000 and was demolished in 2016. Under Mercian, the distillery's small pot stills and imported Golden Promise barley combined with heavy Oloroso sherry maturation to produce spirit of great depth. This is cask number 2725, a 45 Years Old single cask bottled in 2012 for the Taiwan market, representing one of the longest maturations ever recorded for the distillery.

Forty-five years in an Oloroso sherry butt is among the most extended maturations in Japanese whisky history. The sherry wood and spirit have had nearly five decades to converge, producing layers of antique dark fruit, ancient leather, dried botanical notes and deep, concentrated sweetness. At 59.6% cask strength the spirit remains vibrant despite its age, speaking to the quality of the original distillation and the integrity of the cask. Cask 2725 is a singular document of what Karuizawa's production from the late 1960s became with time.