Karuizawa 1999-2000 Cask Strength 6th Batch Sherry Butt Japanese Single Malt Whisky (2024) 70cl

Karuizawa 1999-2000 Cask Strength 6th Batch Japanese Single Malt Whisky (2024) 70cl

Japanese whisky from the legendary Karuizawa, namely single malt from the much sought-after 1999 - 2000 Vintage range. It was matured in a sherry butt and produced in very small batches, this being the sixth.

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 consists of spirit from the distillery's final years of production, matured in sherry wood and bottled at cask strength.

51.1% ABV

70cl