Karuizawa – 12 Year Old Pure Malt (70cl, 40.00%)

Karuizawa – 12 Year Old Pure Malt is a single malt whisky from Karuizawa (Japan). Aged 12 years, bottled at 40.00% ABV, 70cl. Matured in n/A. Karuizawa 12 Year Old Pure Malt​ Karuizawa distillery was established in 1955 in the town of Miyota on the southern slopes of Mount Asama. It began production the following year, producing single malt for the Ocean blends from Daikoku Budoshu. Initially it was difficult for the distillery to obtain malt, but a lift on import restrictions in 1958 meant the distillery was able to experiment with the production of a Speyside-esque product, importing the same golden promise barely used at Macallan, and sherry casks. The subsequent quality of output saw it appearing in Japan as a single malt for the first time in the 1980s. Sadly, the Japanese whisky market was not strong at the time, and Karuizawa was closed in 2001 by owners, Mercian, and eventually dismantled. Its legacy is lives on however, with its still relocated to other distilleries in Japan, but predominantly in the hugely sought-after single cask releases that began to appear in 2007, from independent bottler, Number One Drinks. It is now one of the most prestige single malts on the planet, the reverence for which only grows as the remaining stock continues to thin. This limited bottling contains whisky aged between 12 and 31 years of age and was a gold award winner at the International Wine and Spirit Competition 2001. A legendary name in Japanese whisky that developed significant cult status due to many exceptional releases of its whisky following its closure in 2000. The original distillery was dismantled in 2016, however a new one was built 7 miles away in the town of Karuizawa, commencing production in 2023.