Karuizawa

It is something of an irony that the founding father of Japanese whisky, Shinjiro Torii, intended for Japanese whisky to be a spirit that could be enjoyed by the average consumer; when in reality, the vicissitudes of recent whisky history – and the combination of increasing rarity and rising demand in recent years – have determined that Karuizawa whisky has become one of the most rarefied and expensive spirits in the world.

The small and unassuming Karuizawa Distillery was established by Daikoku Budoshun on the southern slope of Mount Asama volcano in Japan’s southern alps in 1955. During the 1960s, Daikoku and its distilleries were absorbed by the Mercian Corporation. From that time, Karuizawa malts were most often used in Daikoku Ocean blend whisky, with intermittent single malts releases appearing to no great fanfare. After a period of relatively inconspicuous production, Karuizawa fell victim to a dramatic slump in consumer demand for whisky during the 1980s and 1990s. The distillery was mothballed in 2000 and permanently closed in 2011.

That was that – or so it was assumed. But what happened next defied all expectation.

As consumer interest in single malts steadily rose from the noughties onwards, the rich, Sherry cask-matured style of single malt favoured by Karuizawa became hugely popular. A resurgent interest in single malts generated an increase in demand – at a level that few people could have predicted. The decision to permanently close Karuizawa was taken by then-owner, Kirin. At the time, the distillery housed about 350 casks of whisky which, shockingly in retrospect, Kirin was willing to see absorbed in blends.

That was when Marcin Miller and David Croll of the Number One Drinks Company stepped in. After lengthy negotiations, they were able to purchase the entire remaining stock from Kirin. Since then a number of special single-cask releases and collectible series have emerged, and as stocks have continued to fall, prices have truly soared.

The mesoclimate of the area in which Karuizawa whisky was made was central to its distinctively rich, almost Scotch single malt-like style. The high diurnal temperatures fluctuations in the Japanese Alps – in marked contrast to the relatively consistent climate of Scotland – dictated that the alcohol level of Karuizawa whisky remained fairly high (due to a lower proportion of the ‘angel’s share’ being lost). This resulted in the kind of concentrated flavour that was increasingly being sought by a new generation of whisky connoisseurs.

The scarcity of both new and old Karuizawa single malt meant that customers began turning to the secondary market to find elusive bottles, and new records continued to be set at auction houses around the globe. This Karuizawa fever reached its high point in March 2020 when a single bottle of 52-year-old Karuizawa Zodiac Rat Cask #5627 fetched £363,000 (US$435,273) at Sotheby’s in London – thus becoming the world’s most expensive Japanese whisky sold at auction. This is also the oldest bottle of Karuizawa single malt ever bottled.

First introduced in 2008, the NOH collection is one of the largest and most popular series of Karuizawa whiskies. Each of these single-cask expressions is intensely sought-after; collections featuring every bottling in the series are extremely rare and are attract great attention among the whisky community. Similarly rare and coveted is the iconic Karuizawa Geisha series.

To date, limited collections containing whiskies aged for 29, 30, 31 and 50 years, and bottled in the 1970s, 80s and 90s, have been released to fevered excitement among collectors. Other popular Karuizawa collections include the Karuizawa Fight Club Collection, Ghost Series, Thousand Arrows and Samurai collection, while at the more accessible end, the cheapest bottle from this sleeping giant distillery is a no-age-statement Karuizawa Spirit of Asama, which can be found £4,000 a bottle.

Amid the fluctuations in demand for single malt whisky over the past decades, even centuries, the dramatic awakening of Japan’s Sleeping Giant, Karuizama, is unprecedented. And while its phenomenal rise in value cannot continue on such a steep upward trajectory forever, for now, it shows no sign of abating.