Karuizawa Distillery was the smallest distillery in Japan. The distillery was established in 1955 on the slopes of Mount Asama, an active volcano.
Karuizawa was mothballed in 2000 and the remaining stocks were thankfully ‘saved’ by Ichiro Akuto.
Karuizwa’s style was that of a certain Speyside whisky, they almost exclusively used Golden Promise barley imported from Scotland and primarily maturing whisky in sherry casks imported from Spain. The key to Karuizawa’s success was the hidden earthiness and peatiness that gave many of their legendary single cask bottlings it’s unique character.
With a huge range of single cask bottlings, Karuizawa is one of the finest examples of whisky produced world wide and this month we have a put together an outstanding selection of their most sought after expressions.
While the Prohibition Act, which criminalised the production of recreational alcohol in the US left the nation bereft of its former bounty of distilleries, the repeal of the law in 1933 paved the way for a new and exciting breed of new whisky producers to rise from the ashes of the once great industry. At the forefront of this goldrush was the Willett family.
From 1936 until the early 1980’s, this family run distillery produced some of America’s finest bourbon and rye whisky and although the stills were silent for around 20 years, the Willett family never ceased operations as a bond and bottling operation.
The Willett Distillery resumed production in 2012 under the guidance of the Kulsveen family, and has picked up right where it left off in the production of high quality bourbon and rye, many of which, from both distilling eras, we are delighted to showcase in our March auction.
