Karuizawa Whisky

Karuizawa, a small distillery with a lion heart was once located on the southern slopes of Mount Asama, in Kitasaku District with the cool climate providing an excellent location for making whisky. Established in 1955, the distillery was the smallest in Japan beginning production in 1956. It was mothballed in 2000, and closed in 2011 with the entire land sold in 2012.
The international popularity of Karuizawa began in 2007, when Number One Drinks (an independent bottler) started bottling single casks of whisky from the distillery and importing them abroad. The whisky impressed enthusiasts around the world and demand started outstripping supply. Number One Drinks and other independent bottlers, have released a wide range of Karuizawa bottlings over the past 10 years, but stocks have gradually been drying up as the whisky has been bottled and sold with no spirit produced since 2001. These days, new releases are major events on the whisky calendar and bottles change hands at auction for thousands and thousands of dollars. Currently, the only Karuizawa casks left are all privately owned and will be bottled over the coming years as the whisky hits its peak.