Karuizawa 22 Years Old 1991 (SMWS 132.2)

Karuizawa distillery in Nagano Prefecture, Japan, produced single malt whisky from 1956 until its closure in 2000, relying on small pot stills, Golden Promise barley and predominantly Oloroso sherry casks. The Scotch Malt Whisky Society numbered this among its 132-series Karuizawa bottlings; release 132.2 was distilled in 1991 and bottled in 2013 at 22 Years Old and cask strength 62.4% for the Dutch market.

The cask is a refill ex-sherry butt, one that had already given much of its primary sherry contribution to a previous fill. After more than two decades in Nagano, the result is a more malt-driven Karuizawa than a first-fill Oloroso would yield: dried fruit remains in the background, but lighter notes of orchard fruit, gentle spice and the waxy grain character of the distillery's Golden Promise base come through more clearly. At 62.4% it arrives with real presence, a single cask snapshot from a distillery that no longer exists.