Karuizawa 26 Years Old 1990

Karuizawa distillery in Nagano Prefecture was demolished in 2016, the same year this single cask from its 1990 vintage was bottled. The 26 Years Old global release marks one of the longer ageing periods for a 1990 Karuizawa, spending more than a quarter-century in an Oloroso sherry cask before being drawn at 60.6% cask strength.

Twenty-six years in Oloroso sherry builds tremendous extract: dense black fruit, dark caramel, walnut oil and a long dried-leather finish that carries the signature depth Karuizawa became internationally known for after its closure. The high Golden Promise barley content adds a firm malt base underneath the wood richness, and the natural 60.6% gives the whisky the body to carry its age without falling flat. A cask of this vintage bottled in the year the distillery was physically erased holds a particular finality.