Karuizawa 25 Years Old 1984

Karuizawa was a single malt distillery in Nagano Prefecture, active from 1956 until its closure in 2000 and subsequently demolished in 2016. Operated by Mercian with small pot stills and imported Golden Promise barley, the distillery produced dense, darkly sherried single malts through heavy Oloroso cask maturation that would only gain in reputation in the decades after closing. This official distillery release was distilled in 1984, matured for 25 years in an Oloroso Sherry Cask and bottled in 2009 for the German market at 56.2% cask strength.

Twenty-five years in Oloroso wood in Nagano produced the distillery's signature combination of dark cherry, dried figs, raisins and leather, with warm spice and a core of Golden Promise cereal sweetness beneath the sherry layer. This was an early release by comparison with many of the 30-year expressions that followed, but the cold mountain climate and the quality of the sherry casks already produced a fully mature and integrated whisky at quarter-century.