Karuizawa Cask Strength

Karuizawa Cask Strength is a single malt from Karuizawa distillery in Nagano Prefecture, bottled in 2013 for global distribution at 61.7% from sherry cask stock produced before the distillery closed in 2000. The global-market release of this expression broadened access to the richly sherried Karuizawa style that had previously circulated mainly through specialist channels in Asia and the UK.

The Oloroso sherry butt maturation brings intense dried fruit, dark chocolate, old leather and a savoury bitterness that is characteristic of Karuizawa's small-still, Golden Promise distillate meeting long sherry contact. At cask strength the whisky is dense and complex, with the kind of layered depth that tends to evolve in the glass over time. Water will soften the arrival and allow the fruit to come forward.