Karuizawa

Karuizawa was launched in 1955. The distillery started production one year later. It was owned by Mercian Corporation and was the smallest distillery in Japan. In the mid 2000s it was acquired by Kirin Holdings. Unfortunately Kirin could not sustain the premium whisky of Karuizawa and decided to close the distillery in 2011. In 2012 it was completely shuttered and sold everything they could, even the ground on which Karuizawa stood. Hence, Karuizawa is the most collectible whisky of Japan (and perhaps the world…)!