Karuizawa 31 Years Old 1981 Cask #4676 (TWE)

Karuizawa distillery, the small single malt operation below Mt. Asama in Nagano Prefecture under Mercian, produced whisky from 1956 until its closure in 2000 and was demolished in 2016. Cask number 4676, a 1981 vintage, was matured for 31 years before The Whisky Exchange selected it and bottled it in 2012 for the UK market, as part of the early wave of independent specialist bottlings from this site.

The maturation was in an Oloroso sherry cask, consistent with Karuizawa's heavily sherry-weighted production philosophy. The distillery's use of Golden Promise barley, combined with 31 years in seasoned Spanish sherry wood in the cool conditions of Nagano, would have drawn the dark, concentrated fruit, leather, chocolate and spice character the site was known for. No specific flavour notes are recorded for this particular cask. Bottled at 58.6% from a single cask.