Karuizawa was a malt whisky distillery at Miyota, on the slopes of Mount Asama, that the drinks firm Daikoku-Budoshu began building in 1955.1,2,3 Its whisky was mainly used in blending.4,5 It was mothballed at the end of 2000, stopping production but keeping the plant, and it closed in November 2011.2,3,6 Its buildings were pulled down in 2016.2,5,6
A sumptuous, wildly complex whisky with mango, heather honey, camphor and eucalyptus, unfolding into waxes, tobacco and a long, rich finish.
In 1934 Daikoku, a Japanese wine company, built a winery near the spa town of Karuizawa.7 On 5 March 1952 the firm set up a malt whisky distillery at another of its wineries, which made whisky until November 1955.2 In 1955 it began building Karuizawa beside its vineyards, and the winery became a distillery.1,2,3 Two pot stills were moved from that distillery and two new ones were added.1,2,3 InsideHook says that at 850 meters up it was then the highest distillery in Japan and the smallest whisky producer.1,2,3 In February 1956 the first spirit ran, made to go into the firm's low-priced Ocean blended whisky.1,6,7
In 1961 the owner changed its name to Ocean.2,7 On 1 July 1962 Ocean merged with another drinks firm to form Sanraku-Ocean.1,2 In 1964 the plant was enlarged, the owner stopped making malt whisky at its other distillery, and Karuizawa became its only malt distillery.2
From 1978 to 1981 the owner greatly raised the plant's capacity.2 It replaced the malt mill, the boiler, tanks and the No. 1 still, and added warehouses.2
It used only Golden Promise, a variety of barley, malted and shipped from Simpson’s of Berwick in England.2,6,8 Its water came from Mount Asama, a still-active volcano.2,8 It had 5 wooden washbacks, the tanks where the mash ferments into a beer-like wash.2,8 Club Oenologique points to its long fermentations and frequent use of peat.5,7 It had 2 wash stills for the first distillation and 2 spirit stills for the second, each of about 4,000 litres.1,2 A large share of the whisky matured in European oak casks that had held sherry, in ivy-covered warehouses.
Every bottle in Peated with a vintage year.
| Year distilled | Bottles |
|---|---|
| 1960 | 5 |
| 1963 | 1 |
| 1964 | 5 |
| 1965 | 9 |
| 1966 | 1 |
| 1967 | 3 |
| 1968 | 5 |
| 1969 | 2 |
| 1970 | 7 |
| 1971 | 5 |
| 1972 | 7 |
| 1973 | 7 |
| 1974 | 15 |
| 1975 | 12 |
| 1976 | 9 |
| 1977 | 18 |
| 1978 | 12 |
| 1979 | 6 |
| 1980 | 20 |
| 1981 | 106 |
| 1982 | 20 |
| 1983 | 27 |
| 1984 | 44 |
| 1985 | 18 |
| 1986 | 10 |
| 1987 | 12 |
| 1988 | 18 |
| 1989 | 14 |
| 1990 | 12 |
| 1991 | 19 |
| 1992 | 12 |
| 1993 | 12 |
| 1994 | 18 |
| 1995 | 24 |
| 1996 | 8 |
| 1997 | 9 |
| 1998 | 15 |
| 1999 | 30 |
| 2000 | 24 |
Bottles in Peated distilled at Karuizawa, by release year.
| Year distilled | Bottles |
|---|---|
| 1965 | 1 |
| 1977 | 1 |
| 1981 | 1 |
| 1984 | 1 |
| 1985 | 2 |
| 1986 | 5 |
| 1987 | 3 |
| 1988 | 1 |
| 1989 | 1 |
| 1994 | 1 |
| 1997 | 3 |
| 2000 | 4 |
| 2002 | 2 |
| 2003 | 4 |
| 2004 | 1 |
| 2005 | 2 |
| 2007 | 3 |
| 2008 | 6 |
| 2009 | 6 |
| 2010 | 9 |
| 2011 | 13 |
| 2012 | 28 |
| 2013 | 34 |
| 2014 | 13 |
| 2015 | 16 |
| 2016 | 20 |
| 2017 | 25 |
| 2018 | 28 |
| 2019 | 11 |
| 2020 | 11 |
| 2021 | 3 |
| 2022 | 4 |
| 2023 | 6 |
| 2024 | 3 |
| 2025 | 11 |
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In 1985 the owner shortened its name to Sanraku, and in June 1990 it became Mercian.2,3 Output was cut back in steps from the mid-1980s, and production stopped on 31 December 2000.2,3,6 In its last years it ran only 2 to 3 months a year, with just 3 people.2,3,6 In 2006 Ichiro Akuto, now the man behind the Chichibu distillery, trained in whisky making here, running the plant for about a month that summer.1,2 In 2006 Kirin made Mercian a subsidiary, and in 2010 a wholly owned one.2,6,9 Club Oenologique says it did not reopen because Kirin was only interested in Mercian's wine business.2,6,9 In August 2011 Kirin sold all 364 remaining casks to Number One Drinks.2,5,6 The distillery closed for good in November 2011.2,3,6
In March 2013 its land and buildings were sold to a development body of the town of Miyota.2,8 In 2015 its equipment was sold at a town auction, and 3 of its stills later went to Shizuoka Distillery, where only one worked.2,7 The town chose the land for its new town hall, and all the buildings were pulled down by 15 March 2016.2,5,6
