Karuizawa 28 Years Old 1984 Cask #4021 (TWE)

Karuizawa was a Nagano Prefecture distillery operating from 1956 until 2000 and demolished in 2016. The distillery's reliance on small pot stills, imported Golden Promise barley and Oloroso sherry casks gave it a house character of extraordinary density, and its first-fill cask releases represent the most intense expression of that approach. Cask #4021 was filled in 1984, matured for 28 years in a First Fill Oloroso Sherry Cask and bottled in 2012 by The Whisky Exchange for the UK market at the striking cask strength of 64.5%.

The tasting character recorded for this cask includes chocolate, cooked fruit, dried fruit, leather, a new wood note and nuttiness, all of which are consistent with first-fill Oloroso maturation at high concentration over nearly three decades in Nagano. The elevated ABV carries those flavours forward with intensity, and the new wood note suggests a cask that still had vigour after 28 years. Water is likely required to open the palate, but the underlying complexity rewards it.