Karuizawa was already mothballed when Mercian was taken over by Kirin in 2007 and its fate sealed. Now dismantled, the once ivy covered buildings housed four stills. The distillery shipped its Golden Promise malted barley from Simpson’s of Berwick in England and a large proportion of the whisky produced was matured in European oak ex-sherry casks.
Thankfully, in 2011, the Number One Drinks Company, owned and run by David Croll of Japanese Whisky Magazine fame and the whisky PR, Marcin Miller, bought the last few hundred casks of Karuizawa from Kirin and have since been slowly releasing these as both single cask bottlings and blends.
All editorial and photography on this website is copyright protected
© Odd Firm of Sin 2024