Karuizawa 29 Years Old 1984 Cask #3662 (TWE)

Karuizawa was a small distillery in Nagano Prefecture, active from 1956 until its closure in 2000, with the site later demolished in 2016. Its dependence on Oloroso sherry casks and Golden Promise barley, distilled through small pot stills, produced a house style of deep colour, high dried-fruit concentration and leather that set Karuizawa apart from its Japanese contemporaries. Cask #3662 was filled in 1984, aged in an Oloroso Sherry Butt for 29 years and bottled in 2013 by The Whisky Exchange as an event release at 61% cask strength.

At 61% the raw power of the spirit is evident alongside the sherry cask's contribution of dark cherry, dried figs, fruitcake and bitter chocolate, with leather and wood spice building on the long finish. This is among the more potent of The Whisky Exchange's Karuizawa event releases, and the combination of first-class sherry maturation and cask strength delivery is characteristic of the bottler's approach to presenting this distillery's legacy.