Karuizawa 35 Years Old 1975

Karuizawa distillery, a small pot still operation in Nagano Prefecture that closed in 2000, is best remembered for a reliance on Oloroso sherry casks and Golden Promise barley that produced richly dark and densely flavoured single malts. This bottling was distilled in 1975 and aged for 35 years in a sherry butt before being released in 2010 for the French market.

The flavour profile recorded for this cask spans chocolate, dried citrus, honey, leather and new wood, with a streak of cooked fruit that is typical of very long Karuizawa maturation. At 61.8% cask strength from a single sherry butt, the whisky delivers the intensity and layered complexity that made these Nagano distillery releases so widely sought after following closure.