The Pacific Northwest is the birthplace of some of the greatest innovations of the past 40 years. Microsoft, Amazon and Starbucks are just some of the multi-billion-dollar enterprises to come from the region with its spectacular mountainous ranges and lush forested land.

When it comes to drinks of the alcoholic kind, craft brewing has been the area’s most notable export. In California alone there are more than 900 breweries. Unsurprisingly, craft distilleries have followed a similar trajectory – swelling from 35 to over 2,000 in the past 17 years. What may come as a surprise is that single malt whiskey, rather than Rye or Bourbon, is growing apace and pioneering a truly exciting new flavour frontier with traceability and transparency at its heart. 
“We shouldn’t be growing corn,” Seattle-based Westland Distillery Commercial Director Chris Riesbeck says. “We shouldn’t be making Bourbon. We shouldn’t be making Rye. Making single malt makes an enormous amount of sense when you think about the Pacific Northwest climate and agriculture.”

The Pacific maritime influence, warm, dry summers and cool damp winters in Washington, Oregon and California are optimum two-row malting barley growing conditions. “The conversation you hear from almost every distillery on the planet is that barrels and time make whisk(e)y,” Riesbeck continues. “That is true in the most basic, basic way. But the reality is that it gives no real respect to the raw ingredients. “We would argue that whisk(e)y starts in a field – and if you don’t have an appreciation for the grain that you are using and an interest in how you can develop and embrace that flavour, then you’re perhaps not getting the full experience of what whiskey
could be.” It sounds simple enough but, as Riesbeck explains, a seismic shift in global whisk(e)y-making convention needs to occur to produce a varietal-specific single malt that is truly a product of the Pacific Northwest. In Westland’s case, it has been almost a decades’ worth of work. The distillery has partnered with Washington State University’s Bread Lab to find a barley that puts flavour rather than yield first.

“If your goal is to make things cheap, then it’s a race to the bottom and nobody wants to win that race,” Riesbeck says. “But if your goal is to make something that’s lasting and impactful, you have to be willing to support the science.” Westland’s funding of a PhD student is a sign of their long-term investment and it’s the company’s hope that the research produced should benefit the entire industry. But this is just the beginning of the process and many more stages are required to get from grain to glass. Once the barley is chosen, it can take years of testing to balance out things like stripe rust and other diseases before it can be planted in a Skagit Valley field. All this time, money and patience is in the name of one thing: flavour.

Travel 174 miles south and you’ll find Westward on Distillery Row, Portland. Founder and Master Distiller Christian Krogstad has been at the forefront of the craft brewing movement for the best part of 30 years. His role in the spirits sector is not to be sniffed at either – perhaps his biggest achievement is a certain Aviation Gin which was sold to Diageo for $610m in 2020 after actor Ryan Reynolds took on the brand. Brewing informs everything Krogstad does at Westward. “We see ourselves coming out of the beer world,” he says with an enormous smile. “We are much more informed by that than we are by Scottish single malts or traditions.”  In a refreshing juxtaposition to the sometimes-cloak-and-dagger world of whiskey-making, Krogstad is an open book. “We don’t have a lot of secrets and I think that’s something that has gone back to when I was brewing,” he says. “If somebody wanted a recipe for one of the beers I was making, I would give it to them. There’s nothing about the product or the process that is secret.” For the former brewer, imitation is most certainly the sincerest form of flattery. “If somebody wants to try and do what we’re doing then they are welcome to try,” he says. “But just like we’re not trying to copy Scotland, it’s not very interesting for somebody to try and copy us.”    Whether he’s producing a beer, gin or whiskey, Krogstad says his guiding principle is to create a flavourful and balanced liquid that isn’t palate-fatiguing. “My ultimate goal is to produce something that when you finish a glass of it, you immediately want another. I don’t ever want something that I make to be referred to as an acquired taste.” Approaching single malt whiskey with a brewers’ mentality means fermentation is king. A nice, cool temperature and long fermentation produces a beer that Krogstad calls delicious and defect-free. This means there is little reflux at distillation and the spirit is very rich and textural. “Our philosophy is not that the stills clean up the beer,” he says. “It’s that they concentrate it.” The largely defect-free, rich spirit is perfect for maturation in new charred oak because it can stand up to the flavours. “Because we’re not distilling it to a high proof, we have a lot of these great fruity esters from the fermentation that really come through,” Krogstad says. “If we aged it differently, we would want to distil it differently.” Perhaps another hangover of the brewing world is innovation with raw materials. The team frequently experiments with different malts and yeasts to develop more flavours and characteristics. One of the more interesting experiments, according to Krogstad, has been a sourdough levain for the fermentation. “It was almost on a lark and it turned out fabulous, so we are making more of that,” he says. Barrel trading is another inexhaustible playground for flavour development. When the team empties their barrels, they give them to neighbouring breweries for maturing their “big, 10%” imperial stouts for a year to 18 months. The will then return them to Westward 
where whiskies will get a final finish for a year. The process is then repeated ad infinitum. Rather than bringing in barrels from Spain or Portugal, Westward opts to work with local wineries, breweries, and tea and coffee companies. When we speak, Krogstad is wandering around a “buddy’s vineyard” for a photoshoot. The indefatigable founder created a Tempranillo-finished whiskey after he was given a warped butt a few years ago that “turned out fantastic” with red fruit, dried cherry and redcurrant flavours. Every experiment is another learning opportunity for the Portland distillery and its founder and Krogstad speaks about all of them with equal excitement. “I didn’t start this because I created some Business School brief. I started the distillery because I was brewing and I loved brewing. And I loved whisk(e)y and I wanted to do something interesting and bring something new to the conversation.” The whiskey conversation has certainly changed since Krogstad founded the distillery in 2004. When he and seven others created the American Single Malt Whiskey Commission five years ago, there were a handful of members. Today, there are 160 – approximately 60 have products on the market and the remaining 100 are all ageing their liquid. A huge number considering the Federal Government has yet to recognise the category. “It is all about transparency and authenticity now,” Westland’s Chris Riesbeck says. “Brands like Westland will win that war because we were designed with that in mind. "From day one, we really wanted to be authentic [and] we wanted to be transparent. People should know what’s in a bottle of whiskey, they should be able to say without any sort of hesitation – when I buy a bottle of Westland, what am I getting? Well, you’re getting 100% malted barley, distilled in a single distillery, bottled no less than 40% ABV and aged in oak casks with no specificity to an age statement.”

When it comes to the future and the 160-plus American single malt producers, Krogstad says saturation in spirits is a long way off. “In brewing, every six or seven years you get a plateau in the market and everyone confuses a plateau with a collapse. This is the fourth or fifth time I have seen people worrying that the brewing industry is saturated, and I don’t know if it is or isn’t, but what I do know is that comparing the spirits industry to the beer industry, spirits is not saturated.”

Westland is days away from launching the realisation of its 10-year varietal-specific project with the latest addition to its Outpost Range – Colere Edition 1. “It is a really important thing for this distillery philosophically and frankly emotionally,” Riesbeck says. “It’s hard not to get a little misty-eyed about it. The idea was that we should create this not simply because we can but we should create something genuine because this region deserves it.” Browse American whiskey or read more Editorial 

For many, the words “American whiskey” conjure up images of Kentucky, Bourbon and Rye. Two equally innovative and candid producers tell Holly Motion why the Pacific Northwest is perfectly primed to create sensational American single malts

Two key Pacific Northwest whisky producers, Westland and Westward, explain how the region is primed to create remarkable American single malts.

Exploring the potential of American single malts

A new flavour frontier

Montrachet, Chambertin, Richebourg: these names will send chills down the spine of any Burgundy lover. But many of the Côte d’Or’s most famous domaines are looking beyond these grand names, making wines from vineyards and appellations that might otherwise fly under the radar. With reputations at stake, the likes of Domaine d’Auvenay, Coche-Dury and Bizot put as much effort and care into these “lowly” wines as for their Grands Crus. Quality in these appellations is soaring – with better vine material, cooler sites that are benefitting from the warming climate, not to mention better winemaking and know-how all contributing. Here we offer a guide to just a handful of the treasures to be found in Burgundy if you look a bit further afield. Auxey-Duresses Right in the middle of the Côte de Beaune, Auxey-Duresses is a small, sleepy village situated above Meursault. Prior to AC regulations, the white wines of Auxey-Duresses were sold as Meursault and the Pinots sold as Pommard or Volnay. While probably better known for Pinot Noir production, some of its top wines are Chardonnays made in a specific part of the appellation directly bordering Meursault.  Here, high up on the hill, over the brow of Meursault’s highest vineyards you will find vineyards facing unusually north-west. While these vineyards are too cool to adequately ripen Pinot Noir, they have proven to be a great climate for Chardonnay, particularly in today’s warming climate. In a warm vintage, the whites can give the top Meursault vineyards a run for their money. Domaine Leroy, one of Burgundy’s most eminent estates run by Madam Lalou Bize-Leroy, has holdings in this part of Auxey-Duresses in Les Lavières, while Domaine d’Auvenay also regularly produces an Auxey-Duresses Blanc on this particular northwest-facing slope from the vineyards of La Macabrée and Les Boutonniers. Depending on volumes D’Auvenay can produce three separate Auxey-Duresses Blanc cuvées in one vintage or if volumes are down will blend into one. While these are expensive options, the quality is undoubtedly there and this is a great lesser-known spot in the Côte d’Or to source outstanding Chardonnay, particularly in warmer vintages.  Domaine Roulot, Olivier Leflaive and a Jasper Morris MW favourite Domaine Diconne (which has vines dating back to 1924) also produce excellent Auxey-Duresses Blanc on these slopes adjacent to Meursault. While stricter in style than their neighbours, they remain fantastic value. For reds, Domaine Comte Armand’s Premier Cru Auxey-Duresses is another great buy. Made from two complimentary Premier Cru sites – La Duresses (whose brown clay soil brings density and tannic structure) and Les Breterins (on lighter soil bringing fruitiness) combine to make a fabulous Auxey-Duresses well worth discovering. Monthélie Next door to Auxey-Duresses, sandwiched in between Meursault and Volnay, is another lesser-known appellation which has an impressive line-up of producers on its roster. Comtes Lafon, Coche-Dury, Philippe Pacalet, Domaine Roulot and Leroy all produce Pinot Noir from this little, oft-forgotten appellation.  Monthélie is actually one of Bize-Leroy’s favourite appellations for her Maison Leroy selection. Historically, Monthélie tended to produce Gamay more than Pinot Noir, but that is not the case today. While the village wines tend to be a little lean and err too far towards vegetal flavours, the Premiers Crus within the appellation deserve much more attention. Domaine Coche-Dury produces a Premier Cru Les Barbières, while Comtes Lafon’s Premier Cru is in Les Champs Fulliot.  Both have full south exposure, enabling the wines to ripen fully even at higher Hautes-Côtes-like altitudes. In the warmer vintages, you could be justly rewarded for sourcing wines from this under-appreciated little corner of Burgundy. Monthélie is also home to Domaine Potinet-Ampeau, whose collection of older bottlings can wow the senses, provides a fascinating and educational insight into mature Burgundy. Pernand-Vergelesses Few Chardonnay appellations in the Côte d’Or are as underrated as Pernand-Vergelesses. Proximity to Corton-Charlemagne makes this unsurprising. This winemaking enclave, tucked behind the hill of Corton, has long been a consistent appellation where you find outstanding quality at a fantastic price.  While consistent in quality, it is often inconsistent in quantity due to its position between two rising hills. The lay of the land produces natural airflow that attracts hailstorms and is also susceptible to frost as cold air sits in this natural pocket of vineyards. If the region escapes these climatic perils, the Chardonnays are linear and have a flinty, mineral character. The wines can age well, gaining richness as they mature. A top producer of particular note is Domaine Rapet – of whom Wine Advocate critic William Kelley recently noted, “It’s a mystery these wines are not better known or distributed.” Being the biggest landowner of Corton-Charlemagne, they are one of the region’s most consistent white wine producers. Domaine Chandon de Brailles (based in Savigny-lès-Beaune) is also widely recognised for producing the best Pinot Noir in the appellation.  Their Pernand-Vergelesses Premier Cru Ile de Vergelesses regularly competes with top Pinot Noirs made in the more famous appellations and is often described as one of Burgundy’s bargains given the quality. Other better-known producers such as Dugat-Py and a more recent purchase in 2012 by Domaine Jean-Claude Ramonet (one of the world’s top Chardonnay producers) – testify to the quality found here. Perennial FINE+RARE favourite, Domaine Jean-Marc & Hugues Pavelot, also produce outstanding Chardonnay from Pernand-Vergelesses. Morey-Saint-Denis While Morey-Saint-Denis can hardly be described as under the radar, it continues to be undervalued amongst its neighbours despite its obvious pedigree. Morey-Saint-Denis’s prime location in the Côte d’Or sandwiched between Gevrey-Chambertin and Chambolle-Musigny, for some reason – despite being home to five Grands Crus (Clos de la Roche, Clos de Tart, Bonnes Mares, Clos des Lambrays and Clos St Denis) – never gets the same limelight as either of its neighbours.  It’s possible to blame the autonomous nomenclature of its Grands Crus – with only Clos St Denis having a clear link to the village. It has meant that Morey-Saint-Denis as an appellation is seen as somewhat lesser in quality than its neighbours. Another reason might be that, like Auxey-Duresses, before the AC regulations came into play, the wines of Morey-Saint-Denis were either sold as Gevrey-Chambertin or Chambolle-Musigny.  Outside the Grands Crus, our excellent recent discovery is Domaine René Bouvier. Their  Morey-Saint-Denis En la Rue de Vergy is a simply stunning Pinot Noir no matter where it is from. While only classified as village, this vineyard is surrounded by Morey-Saint-Denis’s most illustrious Grands Crus – Clos des Lambrays, Clos de Tart and Bonnes-Mares – on the border with Chambolle-Musigny. In a sunny vintage, this cooler site has excelled and remains one of the great value-buys of 2019. Chassagne-Montrachet Rouge It is not simply lesser-known appellations that get missed. While its Chardonnays get all the attention today, Chassagne-Montrachet was historically a Pinot Noir appellation (as was Meursault). Today, Pinot Noir only represents about 20% of production within the Chassagne-Montrachet Premiers Crus, but until the 1960s, the appellation was dominated by the red grape. Some of the top Pinot Noir sites here were judged to be as good as Musigny, Clos de la Roche and Clos de Tart. Today Chardonnay is the better variety in the village, but there are still top examples of Pinot Noir to be found – often at a great price for the quality. The red wines from the Clos Saint Jean Premier Cru are often described as a unique expression of Pinot Noir – a wine of fantastic finesse, quite at odds with the appellation’s reputation for robust reds. It is arguably the finest site for red wine in Chassagne-Montrachet. Jean-Claude Ramonet produces a top example and Premier Cru La Boudriotte is also great, if not a little leaner in style. Marsannay Most Burgundy buyers rarely explore further north than Gevrey-Chambertin in search of the next big thing, but all indications point in that direction. Marsannay was only given appellation contrôlée status in 1987, encompassing three districts of Chenôve (on the outskirts of Dijon’s urban sprawl), Marsannay La Côte and Couchey.  Unique to the appellations of Burgundy, Marsannay can produce a rosé wine from Pinot Noir.  The foundation for the village’s reputation, many vineyards within the appellation are dedicated exclusively to rosé production. If a red wine is made in these vineyards, it must be declassified to Bourgogne Rouge). While Sylvain Pataille and René Bouvier make the most serious and age-worthy rosés in the appellation, the whites and reds are arguably the most exciting development in recent times. The village of Marsannay is arguably producing the best Pinot Noir for the money in the whole of Burgundy. Cult producers such as Domaine Bizot with Jean-Yves Bizot’s Marsannay Clos du Roy and his Bourgogne Le Chapitre, situated just south of Dijon, are already on aficionado's radars.  These wines are made in tiny quantities and has only further increased the collectability of these wines made in a distinct style (100% whole-bunch fermentations and zero sulphur additions). If sourcing Bizot wines is too painstaking and out of one’s budget, there are plenty of other exceptional growers in this region. Domaine Audoin is producing outstanding Premier Cru Marsannay that can compete with some of the top Gevrey bottlings and the wines still remain fantastic value. Domaine René Bouvier also makes exceptional wines from Marsannay. Côte Chalonnaise: Givry, Montagny and Rully Outside the Côte d’Or, to the south in the Côte Chalonnaise, Mercurey dominates the limelight compared to neighbouring appellations Rully, Montagny and Givry. When handled correctly, however, Givry, can produce fantastic, powerful Pinot Noir that also offers finesse. Rully and Montagny are also a great source of Chardonnay and remain outstanding value.  Montagny only produces Chardonnay – the top producers being Domaine Stéphane Aladame, Domaine Bruno Lorenzon and Domaine Maxime Cottenceau. Rully produces white and red, but the domaine's Chardonnay represents one of Burgundy’s best-value white wines. Producers worth looking out for include Domaine Jaeger-Defaix and Domaine Vincent Dureuil-Janthial. Domaine Joblot is the leading producer in Givry. Their wines consistently compete with those in the Côte d’Or, a beacon for the appellation’s reputation, yet remain sensibly priced. Of the estate’s 14 hectares, nine are Premier Cru, including some of the village’s finest plots such as Clos de la Servoisine and Cellier aux Moines.  L’Empreinte –  a blend of their four red Premier Cru sites (Clos de la Servoisine, Cellier  aux Moines,  Clos  Marole  and  Les Bois  Chevaux – is the property’s top wine. The white, Cuvée Mademoiselle, is a blend of  their  older-vine  Premier Cru  Chardonnay from  En  Veau  and  Clos de la  Servoisine. Joblot is rightfully praised by the likes of Clive Coates MW,  Robert Parker, Allen Meadows and Jasper Morris MW for being the leading address in Givry and one of the greatest estates in Burgundy. Hautes-Côtes de Nuits Situated over the brow of the main Côte d’Or slope and further to the west are the vineyards classified as the Hautes-Côtes (the higher slopes) of the Côte de Nuits. Typically around 100 metres higher in altitude, only the southwest and southeast slopes are warm enough to ripen grapes, but geologically parts of the region are identical to the Côte d’Or.  With warmer vintages, quality here is greatly improving and you can find some outstanding wines at a great price. Two top examples of this come from Vosne-Romanée’s Domaine Gros Frère & Sœur and Domaine David Duband. Both estates have invested heavily in the region believing in the potential of these cooler sites in a warming climate. Aubert de Villaine’s Domaine de la Romanée-Conti also produces an Hautes-Côtes de Nuits Blanc, from grapes grown on the slopes below the historic Abbaye de Saint Vivant. Browse all Burgundy listings or read more Editorial

While the Grands Crus and top villages steal the headlines, often with eye-watering pricing to match, there is so much more to discover in the Côte d’Or. We explore a few of the lesser-known appellations being exploited by some of Burgundy’s grandest producers

lesser-known, best vlue wine appellations of the Côte d’Or: Auxey-Duresses, Monthélie, Pernand-Vergelesses, Marsannay, Côte Chalonnaise: Givry, Montagny Rully

Wine discoveries off the beaten track in Burgundy

Off the beaten track in Burgundy

Bordeaux is incredibly varied – with hugely different styles of wine produced across its appellations. Here, we run through everything you really need to know about each of the main subregions – and the best estates in each  

Explore Bordeaux, subregions, their wines and top estates – in Saint-Estephe, Pauillac, Saint-Julien, Margaux, Graves, Pessac-Leognan, Pomerol, Saint-Emilion 

Your guide to Bordeaux’s subregions, wines and top producers

Your guide to Bordeaux’s subregions   

Sitting plum in the middle of the Côte d’Or, the hill of Corton is hard to miss. Its wines, especially the whites, however, are all too often overlooked. We sat down with some of the region’s leading producers to explore the pedigree and potential of this site and its powerful, long-lasting wines

Discover the pedigree and potential of the hill of Corton’s whites – the fine Chardonnay from Corton-Charlemagne, Charlemagne and Corton Blanc 

Exploring Corton-Charlemagne, Charlemagne and Corton Blanc 

Corton-Charlemagne: the Grand Cru of the future?  

Closed Japanese whisky distillery Karuizawa is a phenomenon. For its entire operational life, it was barely known inside of Japan, let alone internationally. Yet today, its whiskies are recognised globally as amongst the finest and most age-worthy ever bottled and today is one of the most sought-after labels in the burgeoning rare whisky investment market. Bottles of Karuizawa continue to break all the records. Just last month a bottle of Karuizawa 52YO (1960) Cask #5627 became the most expensive Japanese whisky ever sold at auction, a single 70cl bottle selling for £366,000. So, what is it that drives the demand and what qualities do bottles of Karuizawa possess which others don’t?  Like most whisky distilleries, its origins are humble, and the astonishing demand is relatively new, closely paralleling the upward trajectory of the rare whisky market over the past ten years.  Limited production  By Scottish whisky distillery standards, Karuizawa had a short lifespan. Established in 1955 it was operational for only 46 years before being closed in 2001, a consequence of an economic slump domestically which impacted an industry with limited exports at the time.  Although now synonymous with single malts, the first spirit to leave the still in 1956 was destined for blending and this continued until a switch in focus and the release of its first single malt in 1976. At the time Karuizawa was said to be Japan’s smallest distillery and so the relatively short years it was active, coupled with a relatively low capacity to produce single malt, led to an always limited amount of whisky on the market. Moreover, after lying dormant for well over a decade, Karuizawa was eventually demolished in 2016 by its then-owners Kirin
Brewing Co, dashing any hopes of a revival. Karuizawa's unique character  Fitting for such an extraordinary distillery was its extraordinary location on the southern slopes of one of Japan’s most active (category A) volcanoes – Mount Asama. Named after the town in which it was based, Karuizawa is under two hours by train northwest of Tokyo and at the time of writing is the only town to have hosted both summer and winter Olympic Games
events.  The cold snowy winters, summers with up to 80% humidity and cool average annual temperature of eight degrees, creates specific atmospheric conditions ideal for whisky maturation. These conditions have been credited with creating the unique characteristics of Karuizawa single malt – the ability to age gracefully for many decades, whist retaining an abnormally high alcoholic strength and concentrated complex flavour. In terms of raw materials, it is rumoured that The Macallan may have been the inspiration. It is certain
that they sourced the same grain and wood having imported Golden Promise barley
from Britain and Sherry casks from Spain. Distribution  Had it not been for the formation of specialist Japanese whisky distributor Number One Drinks Co. in 2006, it is quite possible Karuizawa would have never entered whisky enthusiasts’ consciousness on the scale it has today. Founded by Marcin Miller and David Croll, it was after a cask sampling session in 2009 and after learning production had ceased, that they bid to purchase the distillery. The bid was rejected but a counterbid to
purchase the inventory was accepted after protracted negotiations making Number
One Drinks Co both owner and distributor of Karuizawa whisky.    Export markets beckoned and soon London-based retailer The Whisky Exchange and Parisian-based retailer La Maison Du Whisky would be blown away by what was presented to them and began bottling casks for an initially sceptical European market. Quality cannot be ignored however and a joint bottling in 2009 by the aforementioned retailers was compared with some legendary Scotch whisky bottlings when reviewed by respected whisky blogger Serge Valentin describing the Karuizawa 42YO (1967) Cask #6426 as “a Japanese masterpiece… once again, this baby reminds me of some old Springbanks. Say of the best sherried ‘Local Barleys’, if that rings a bell to you.” 95 points. Karuizawa-mania ensued, fuelled also by the success Japanese whisky was experiencing as a category on the international stage, most notably Hibiki and Yamazaki scooping numerous ‘World’s Best’ awards and receiving critical acclaim including the famous Jim Murray Whisky Bible award for Yamazaki Sherry Cask 2013 Edition, reported in the mainstream media as ‘Japan beats Scotland’.  The finite supply, increasing demand and sheer quality of the whisky meant Number One Drinks Co had an increasingly valuable commodity. Ever the purist, Marcin is reported to have soon tired of the spiralling secondary market prices and decided to sell off what remained of the reported 364 casks they originally owned and went on to found Japan’s first-ever gin distillery (Kyoto Distillery) trailblazing within a new category with Ki-No-Bi gin.    Presentation You’d be forgiven for being a little underwhelmed by the presentation of some early releases of Karuizawa. A case in point is the previously mentioned Karuizawa 42YO (1967) Cask #6426, which at the time was the oldest Japanese whisky. Now retailing for £20,000 inc VAT, it consists of little more than a glass bottle, white sticker label and thin cardboard box. At
the time of release however there was no precedent for the returns Karuizawa would achieve on the secondary market and at a release price of £250, considered expensive at the time, most were indeed opened and drunk.  Today, the most high-profile releases of Karuizawa are collected and displayed like works of art. The Karuizawa Pearl Geisha’s by Elixir Distillers are a stunning example of how the presentation can entice collectors and send secondary markets into a frenzy. They were a 2019 release exclusive to FINE+RARE and consisted of just 71 bottles of a 37YO Karuizawa and 172 bottles of a 38YO. When these two bottles are placed side by side, the
labels form a mirrored image of a Geisha visually as impressive as the whisky itself.  These were the fourth release in the series so not only were collectors desperate to get their hands on these two but also the previous editions and any future ones.  The future of Karuizawa No one knows exactly how many ‘new’ Karuizawa releases there will be. The remaining casks Number One Drinks sold are said to have gone to three buyers who control the market and have been releasing intermittently since. What we can be sure of is there is very little left to be bottled and we are witnessing the final years of releases after which the number of bottles in the market will only decrease year on year.  The story of Karuizawa is already legendary and it is one which cannot be repeated. For future generations of whisky enthusiasts all that will be left is the ever-decreasing supply and the chapter of Karuizawa in the history of Japanese whisky. In addition to the final releases however, there will be whisky for future generations which is intrinsically linked to Karuizawa.  Although the distillery site was completely demolished, the pot stills that created the unique ‘new make’ were rescued and are already producing spirit which is being laid down at Shizuoka Distillery. There was also one final run in the old distillery site in 2006 by Ichiro Akuto of Chichibu Distillery fame. A 2006 distilled Karuizawa crafted by Ichiro Akuto is something that we hope to one day see.   Browse all available Karuizawa or read more Editorial 

Bottles of Karuizawa continue to break all the records. Just last month a bottle of Karuizawa 52YO (1960) Cask #5627 became the most expensive Japanese whisky ever sold at auction when a 70cl bottle sold for £366,000. So, what is it that drives this demand? We investigate

Closed Japanese whisky distillery Karuizawa is a phenomenon. Find out about the distillery that has produced some of the world's finest bottlings

Karuizawa, Japan's most expensive whisky

Karuizawa: Japan's most expensive whisky

Ch. Cheval Blanc is one of the finest producers in Bordeaux. The Saint-Emilion estate’s Cabernet Franc-dominant blends are consistently among the top wines of any vintage and under the tenure of Pierre-Olivier Clouet, the wines are only getting better. Listening to how Clouet talks about the property, the experiments, the confidence to talk about mistakes as much as successes, goes a long way in understanding why. This is someone who eats, drinks and sleeps Cheval Blanc – obsessively looking to better the wine. Cheval Blanc’s other Saint-Emilion property, Ch. Quinault l’Enclos has become an important test bed for developments at Cheval Blanc, and means the estate has seen a huge amount of investment over the last few years. Clouet accepts it is a “simpler” terroir compared to its sibling, but that challenge has pushed the team to explore the effects of terroir and varieties at a micro level. Since taking over the estate in 2008, Clouet felt that Quinault l’Enclos struggled to reach the standards he expected. Between 2009 and 2011, he admits their results were so-so. By 2012 they felt they had captured more freshness and balance in the wine, but they still didn’t have the density they felt the terroir was capable of producing.  Clouet knows they can’t simply make another Cheval Blanc at Quinault l’Enclos. Cabernet Franc, for instance (the backbone of Cheval Blanc), is a “fussy grape”, says Clouet, and just doesn’t work on the sandy/gravel terroir at Quinault. “The terroir also doesn’t have the clay soils that can help polish the mid-palate, and the tannins can become too rustic if we extract too much,” he explains. It is a fine balancing act and, while Merlot dominates in this terroir, they are finding success planting more Cabernet Sauvignon. Tasting the 2018 Quinault l’Enclos, the wine has the restrained touch synonymous with Cheval Blanc – something that is even more notable given the hot vintage. The fruit is firmly in the purple and blue spectrum and lovely violet, floral aromatic notes add complexity. The tannins are compact and impressively refined, and Clouet is clearly happy that in their 10th vintage at the estate, they have found the elegance and mid-palate density they have long been searching for. Alongside Quinault and the Grand Vin at Cheval Blanc, there is also the estate’s little-seen second wine, Le Petit Cheval. Clouet is keen to emphasise that Le Petit Cheval is purely a second wine: “It is made simply to make Cheval Blanc better.” It is the vintage that dictates how much Petit Cheval is made. In 2015 and 2022, for example, there was no Petit Cheval as the quality was so consistent it all went in the Grand Vin. Typically, Le Petit Cheval represents just 10% of the estate’s production, while 15% is typically sold off in bulk – mainly press wine, none of which is ever used in the Grand Vin. The Grand Vin, therefore, typically represents around 75% of production. In 2020 the blend for Petit Cheval was, unusually, 59% Cabernet Franc. It was a challenging vintage for the variety and less therefore went into the Grand Vin. For Clouet, 2020 was not as good as 2018 or 2019, and the growing season was not as conducive to good Cabernet Franc. Despite Clouet’s criticism of the vintage (“over maturity on the nose and underripe on the palate”), the 2020 Petit Cheval is a great wine. Notable power combines with big tannins and just a tiny hint of rusticity, but it has the refined touch of Cheval, a lovely, earthy, savoury quality and a long finish. Located in northwest Saint-Emilion, on the border with Pomerol, Ch. Cheval Blanc neighbours a number of high-profile estates, including Ch. Figeac to the south, and Pétrus and Vieux Château Certan in Pomerol. Its position between Pomerol and Saint-Emilion (while not on its limestone plateau) makes it a unique site in the appellation. Of the estate’s 39 hectares there is also tremendous variation in terroir. It is divided into 53 plots across 10 different soil types – clay, sand and gravel in varying proportions. For Clouet, it is this diversity that defines it. Many of the key components of the winemaking process have not changed since 1832, insists Clouet, however technology has allowed the team to increase the precision and purity of each bottle. “It’s the same picture, but with more pixels; we’re simply increasing the resolution of the wine,” Clouet explains. These days there is meticulous care and attention to detail at every stage of production, from the vineyard to picking each plot when the grapes are precisely “al dente”, right through to bottling.  Tasting through benchmark vintages underlines the success of this fine-tuning and the underlying style of the property. The 2018 is one of the great wines of the estate. Even in its infancy, the wine has incredible depth and a breath-taking density of tannins that are already seamlessly integrated – quickly followed by a surge of energy and an overriding freshness on the finish that gets the blood pulsing. Clouet describes Cheval Blanc as being shy at first, accelerating on the mid-palate – and that certainly comes through in the 2018, with a lovely lift on the finish. There is so much detail to the fruit with plenty of rich, concentrated black and red fruit flavours along with liquorice and menthol notes from the Cabernet Franc. The purity is outstanding and is hard to fault. Now with eight years in bottle, the 2015 is starting to reveal its quality, with the first hint of development beginning to show with lightly medicinal notes, beautifully delicately smoked oak tones and lifted floral violet aromas. The tannins again are seamless, yet dense. There is an unctuosity and fatness to the 2015 on the mid-palate, yet it is so fresh for the vintage. This is juicy and rich but with graphite mineral notes too. The density and detail is extraordinary. And the signature rush of energy and overriding freshness on the long finish is there. Although the 2012 Cheval Blanc doesn’t have the power or the intensity of the 2015, it is no less arresting. It is full of energy and has developed fresh tobacco notes and leather tones. The mid-palate remains really juicy, rich and pure. The tannins are again totally integrated with a mineral, minty note on the finish that has the Cheval Blanc lift. Finally, the 2009 – a wine that has legendary status among collectors: it is an incredible wine to taste, but noticeably different to the 2012, 2015 and 2018. The oak treatment and extraction is different and quite clear when tasted side by side. There is a touch more chalkiness to the tannins – not as seamless as the modern vintages – and they are more drying on the finish. Clouet notes that they certainly extracted more back then and the oak tannins are also more present, as is the toasting of the oak which has also been reduced in recent years. The power, freshness and energy is classic Cheval Blanc, but the refinement of the modern vintages shows that even at this level of quality there is room for improvement. There are few vignerons with such a meticulous approach to winemaking as Pierre-Olivier Clouet, whose fearless experimentation with one of Bordeaux’s most iconic wines has taken Cheval Blanc to new heights. It is only by tasting the wines side by side that you can really experience how this wine has developed over the last 15 years or so. It is a trend that mirrors much of what is happening in Bordeaux, with less extraction and more subtle oak, but few vignerons have discovered their magic recipe quite so astutely as Clouet at Cheval Blanc. Read more about Bordeaux, find out more about our events or browse all listings from Cheval Blanc

Under the direction of Technical Director Pierre-Olivier Clouet, Ch. Cheval Blanc has reached new levels of precision. Tasting through a selection of benchmark vintages with the man himself, we explore how the top Saint-Emilion estate is managing to further refine its impressive wines

Exploring the evolution of Chateau Cheval Blanc – the top Saint-Emilion wine estate – under the direction of Pierre-Olivier Clouet via a vertical tasting

Fine-tuning perfection at Cheval Blanc

Cheval Blanc: fine-tuning perfection

It all started, as the best things in life often do, with a glass of wine and something of an epiphany. Budding Shanghai-based chef, Alex Xu, was holidaying with his then-girlfriend (now his wife) in New Zealand in 2012. It was their first trip together, and the pair had decided to do some tastings at wineries in Central Otago and Marlborough. One particular Pinot Noir they encountered awoke something in Xu. He didn’t know it at the time, but this was the first in a series of wine-tasting experiences that would change the course of his life. “We were on a tastings tour,” recalls Xu of the seminal moment. “There was a group of us travelling from winery to winery on a bus, but when we got to Aurum in Cromwell, our last stop of the day, the owner, Brook Lawrence, came and really spent some time with us. He walked and talked us through the vineyards, we tasted out of a barrel, and he opened a few bottles to taste. He talked about – in a very straightforward way – why each wine tasted a bit different even though they were all from the same parcel, essentially. He spoke to us about how there were different approaches to making wine from using whole-cluster or de-stemmed grapes, to oak, to length in barrel.” Sipping the wine as Lawrence spoke about the various methodologies and decisions that contribute to its flavour, made Xu realise in that moment, that the way wine is made – grown, picked and then prepared and vinified – is similar to the way a chef works. “I remember thinking, ‘Oh, making wine is like farming and cooking, but maybe the cycle is a bit longer.’” How flavours and textures work to deliver deliciousness in food is something that Xu was increasingly fascinated by, but his experience at Aurum that afternoon in 2012, opened his mind to the complexity of winemaking and the different elements at play in the glass and on his palate. “It was so fascinating to me to taste a wine made using 100% whole cluster and then compare it to essentially the same wine made using de-stemmed grapes. It was probably the first time I tasted wine and was simultaneously aware of how it was made. We’d visited maybe three wineries before Aurum, and I really remember how the tannins were entirely different, texturally, from anything else we had tasted. Those whole-cluster wines were much more expressive and seductive to me – specifically Aurum’s Madeleine Pinot Noir. It was spiced, really floral, lifted and bright. I already knew that I loved Pinot Noir, but that was a real ‘wow’ moment.” Shortly afterwards, Xu signed up to WSET, not because he knew he wanted to be a wine professional, “but simply to understand better what I was tasting and why I was enjoying those things,” he explains. The principles and tasting techniques he started to adopt soon began to feed into his approach to cooking.  “It gave me a kind of mental grid to help evaluate wines – colour, aroma, flavours, acidity, alcohol, tannin, body, intensity, complexity, length,” he explains. “On one super fun R&D trip to Tokyo to learn as much as I could about ramen, I applied that kind of thinking and rigour to how I evaluated a whole bunch of different varieties.” His interest in wine, it would seem, was sharpening Xu’s critical faculties and improving his ability to identify and appraise different elements of flavour. In 2015, just as he was making the final preparations to open his restaurant, Baoism, in Shanghai, Xu became ill with mononucleosis (glandular fever). Locked in a fever for days, he decided to head to the countryside to recuperate. More specifically, to his family’s country retreat in Yuhu Village in the foothills of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain in rural Yunnan. Yunnan is one of China’s most southwestern provinces, lying south of Sichuan and bordering Tibet to the northwest, Myanmar to the west, and Laos and Vietnam to the south. There’s no heavy industry, making Yunnan one of the least polluted corners of China. Instead, its 394,000 square kilometres encompass snow-capped mountains, rice terraces, lakes, forests and agricultural land.  Xu describes Yunnan as ‘China’s breadbasket’, explaining that the variation across the province in elevation and climate means that the region enjoys a long growing season, yielding all kinds of gastronomic wonders that are prized throughout the country and beyond. As well as the tea, coffee and tobacco of central Yunnan, the province is probably best known for the wide variety of mushrooms it produces. Wild morels, porcini, truffles and a mushroom called matsutake or ‘pine mushroom’ in Japanese. Yunnan still exports tonnes upon tonnes of them to Japan each year, although they’re also enjoyed locally, sliced very thin and dipped in soy sauce and wasabi. The food of Yunnan reflects many influences. “I’m Han Chinese and that’s the majority ethnic group,” explains Xu, “but we have, I think, 25 different ethnic minorities in Yunnan. There are Tibetans, Laotians, ethnic Thai, ethnic Leong – and that’s just the tip of the cultural diversity iceberg. And even though we’re pretty far from Vietnam and Laos here in the Northwest, we still have a lot of lime and mint here. In the summer, the sun is really intense because of the high UV radiation at the altitude, so we eat a lot of foods that are very fresh. Our cuisine puts a lot of value on nuance and delicate complexity, rather than power and spice.” Xu’s Shanghai-resident parents holidayed in Yunnan in the early 2000s and fell in love with Yuhu Village. On discovering there was no running water, they helped the villagers build a pipeline from a glacier atop the mountain, and as a show of thanks, the villagers gave them some land on which they built a house.  Despite the abundance of beautiful fresh produce grown elsewhere in the province, the landscape around Yuhu Village is almost completely devoid of agriculture due to the barrenness of the soil. But its wide-open spaces and fresh mountain air (at an elevation of 2,800 metres) were the perfect tonic for Xu’s mononucleosis recovery. Within two days, he shook off the blanket under which he had been shivering for weeks and, almost suddenly, was back to rude health and able to enjoy being out in the sunshine and open countryside. And that’s when he saw something he’d never seen before: a group of villagers digging melon-sized rocks out of the ground. “I asked my friend what was going on,” says Xu, “and he explained that the rocky soil is so poor and so bad at retaining water that nothing really grows. So instead of harvesting crops, the locals dig up rocks that can be used for building projects.” Sloping landscape, poor and rocky soil, cool climate – something clicked in the back of Xu’s mind. “I remember thinking ‘Maybe we could plant vineyards here.’ It’s weird because there are no vineyards in that part of Yunnan, and I had never considered planting vines or making wine until that very moment.” Two weeks later, Xu was back in Shanghai, busier than ever as the head chef and proprietor of his just-opened restaurant. But he had made some calls, reaching out to friends about his ‘crazy idea’. He was introduced to David Tyney, an Australian viticultural consultant who had been working in New Zealand for around 15 years. Over the next 12 months, also working with Simon Clark and Feng Liu, they collaborated to establish whether or not growing vines would be feasible – installing a weather station, analysing soil samples and, ultimately, identifying a small parcel of land outside Xu’s village that had potential. Xu planted vines in May 2017 knowing that, at some point, he’d have to choose between the restaurant and the vineyard project. When his landlord got in touch later in the year to say that he was upping the rent at Baoism, it made the decision easier than anticipated. Now able to focus solely on the vineyard, Xu asked his viticultural consultant the best and fastest way to learn about making wine. The answer came: “Work vintages”. The memory of the Pinot Noirs he had tasted at Aurum called him back to New Zealand, where husband and wife team Brook and Lucie Lawrence welcomed Xu’s request to come and work the 2017 harvest with them as their only additional help managing their four-hectare site. “I’d heard from my consultants that making wine is very much like working in a kitchen,” says Xu. “It’s mostly cleaning but I would be there to work hard, observe and absorb. I was already used to a world where cleaning and physical labour were very much part of the job, but what I found on my first vintage, working with Lucie and Brook, was that winemaking has this incredible combination of intellectual curiosity and satisfaction.  You’re constantly thinking about how and why, trialling different things here and there, understanding how different viticultural or vinification decisions affect what ends up in the glass. Plus, you have this real satisfaction from doing physical labour that you don’t get in a lot of work. It had a pace that was a little bit slower than restaurants – still very intense – but it felt more sustainable. And at Aurum I saw that when people are really good at what they do, they kind of glide around the winery, the way great chefs glide around their kitchens. It made me want to become better. I understood that that’s what I want to be like, and I understood how the work would appeal to me. I also learned that this was a real business – that I couldn’t just throw myself into it without giving it proper respect.” One of Xu’s big learnings at Aurum was about quality over quantity. “They’d been hit hard in the economic crisis of 2008 and had to shed 10 hectares of their site, leaving them with just four. So they were down to bare bones. What they were doing, if they got it right, would just about support them.” A sobering thought, but Xu was inspired.  Despite the pressure they were under to make it work, he admired the decisions Brook and Lucie made in the field, in the winery and beyond. For example, as part of their uncompromising focus on quality, they held on to bottles for the amount of time they felt was necessary before releasing them. “While I was there, one of their 2014 Pinots (they make three) won Best Pinot Noir in New Zealand,” says Xu. “It was a testament to how good they are as winemakers.” Perhaps unsurprisingly, Xu trusted his tastebuds to lead him to his next vintage experience. In 2015, he had attended a blind tasting event in Hong Kong hosted by Jancis Robinson MW. One wine stood out. “The theme of the event was to blind taste Chardonnay and Pinot Noir wines from across the world,” says Xu, “and I look up to Jancis immensely, so I felt I had to be there. As everyone does at some point or another, Jancis called one wine completely wrong. What she had called as ‘a great, great white Burgundy’, turned out to be a Quartz Chardonnay by Australian winery, Bindi. When it was revealed, Jancis wasn’t surprised: ‘It’s a Bindi? Of course, that makes sense,’ and she spoke about how serious the work is there and how great the winemakers are.” As Xu contemplated the delicious liquid in his glass, he found himself thinking what a triumph it was for New World wine; that it in the unprejudiced environment of a blind tasting event, the Jancis Robinson had put an Aussie Chardonnay in the same quality bracket as top white Burgundy.  Having sought out and enjoyed Bindi wines on several subsequent occasions, Xu applied to work the 2018 vintage with owner-winemaker Michael Dhillon. Though almost twice as big in size as Aurum’s, Bindi’s operation was still small enough for Xu to have a hand in everything during the vintage. And beyond the day-to-day harvest and winemaking work, Xu got to taste and discuss wines with Michael and his family in the evenings. “What was wonderful at Bindi was, because I was living with the family, I cooked a lot for them – almost every night – and they opened a lot of very special bottles. I found that so valuable; that they shared so many incredible wines with me, that we talked about them, and they were able to articulate why those wines appealed to them. And the wines weren’t all monolithic, there was quite a bit of variation in how the wines were built, structurally, even in the grape varieties, but you could see that Michael had a very clear idea of what he valued, of what mattered in wine to him. I realised that I needed to do that too, that my responsibility to my work, to my dream, wasn’t just about becoming a technician – simply knowing how to make wine – because that’s not enough. I needed to figure out what matters to me, to understand it and to be able to articulate it, and to evaluate wine from that vantage point.” Xu still speaks to Dhillon regularly, having gained a mentor as well as invaluable experience. He has also stayed in touch with Brook and Lucie at Aurum. In fact, when he mentioned to them that he was keen to do a vintage at Domaine Dujac in Burgundy, they told Xu that they knew the Seysses family personally, and would be happy to write a recommendation. They did, and Xu was offered a spot on Dujac’s 2018 harvest crew. “That was such a nice moment for me and a really great example of how people in the wine industry are much less directly competitive than people in restaurants,” says Xu. “There’s a much greater sense of sharing knowledge, and I love that. It’s still amazing to me, not just how much information the best winemakers in the world are willing to share about how they make their secret sauce, but also that they’re willing to go out of their way to help people like me find opportunities to learn and grow.” Xu’s winemaking learning curve and his palate education continued apace at Dujac under the tutelage of Jeremy Seysses and his wife Diana (who splits her time between Dujac and Napa where she is the winemaker at both her family vineyard, Snowden, and Ashes & Diamonds). Xu was one of just four stagiaires along with a sommelier from a 3-star Michelin restaurant in New York and a young but experienced Australian couple, who were all encouraged to take it in turns to choose four bottles from the cellars to open in the evenings after a hard day’s work.  “They would give us the inventory for the cellar and say ‘Ok, pick four wines and we’ll blind taste them.’ It was so much fun! We would taste and talk – and the really cool thing was that most of the wines we were trying were made by the family’s friends at neighbouring domaines. When you blind taste with people, you start to understand what they like, what they don’t like, and particularly how they think about wine. Because we were in the winery tasting the fermenting wines every day, and also out of barrels – when it came to tasting these amazing bottles every evening, we really got a sense of what Jeremy and his father Jacques valued in wine. It was such a privilege – so many wines I’ll never taste again but will remember forever.” Xu particularly remembers the wine he tasted on the evening of Jeremy’s birthday. Diana asked him to cook a special birthday meal (Chinese dumplings from scratch), while Jeremy brought up some very special bottles from the cellar. Two bottles of La Tâche – a 1966 and a ’72 – for starters, and Xu’s eyes glaze over at the memory of them. “Those wines were magical to me. First of all, the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC) bottles in the Dujac cellars are direct exchanges because the families are close. Aubert de Villaine is the godfather of Jeremy’s son – he came to lunch one day, and I think I was slack-jawed the entire time – but you know, those wines had entered the cellars in the 60s and not moved. Talk about pristine storage conditions – they’d travelled only a few kilometres to get there! The next thing to say is that these tasting experiences were my first with Pinot Noir that old – around 50 years.  Tasting them was mind-blowing as I had no concept of what it would look and taste like at that age, but simultaneously a validation of all the things that I love about Pinot Noir. 1966 was one of those years, a bit like 2017, where the vintage produced wines that people just drank straight out the gate as it was so delicious.  People didn’t really know if wine like that would fare well over time. But tasting it confirmed that the ’66 La Tâche had retained the balance it started with. Yes, it had gained all the savoury, leather and undergrowth characteristics, but all the purity of fruit and aromatic expressiveness and complexity still formed the core of the wine. But maybe the roses had gone from fresh to dried, and strawberries from fresh to gently baked – but the sweetness and succulence, the perfume and the spice, everything was still there. The ’72 was interesting too because, unlike the ’66, it was a really difficult vintage. And yet the wine had aged remarkably gracefully – all the elements were there, it was just a bit quieter perhaps, less intense than the ’66.” Xu also remembers Jeremy opening a magnum of 1964 Clos de la Pousse d’Or – the first vintage made by Gérard Potel whom Jeremy’s father, Jacques, had worked with and learned a lot from. “The magnum was pristine, and the wine exhibited all the things I love about Burgundy: perfume, texture, massive complexity and spice. You know that way that Pinot Noir can be weightless without being light or lacking intensity or energy? It had this weightless intensity and a savoury complexity that was just stunning. So beautiful.” Through the wines Xu was tasting, he wasn’t just building a vision for the kinds of wine he hopes to make in Yunnan, he was starting to understand something much more profound – the kind of life in wine he wants to make for himself. At the end of his season at Dujac, when Jeremy asked him if he wanted to visit some other Burgundy domaines to do some tasting and maybe think about where next to approach to do a vintage (as a result of the subsequent tastings – and Dujac’s influence – Xu worked the 2019 vintage with Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey), Xu had perhaps the biggest epiphany on his wine adventure to date. He knew that he didn’t just want to nurture fruit on the vine and turn it into wine, but also – like his own mentors – nurture and encourage like-minded people to follow their noses, awaken and educate their palates, and start their own wine adventures. With just under three hectares of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vines planted on the south-facing slopes of his Miao Lu vineyard in Yunnan, Xu is fully committed to maintaining more than a flow of vinified grape juice in the coming years. The knowledge and passion that flows freely around the vigneron’s dinner table, and the convivial spirit of generosity Xu discovered at each world-class winery, are just as important to his vision for Miao Lu. Yes, making exquisite, thoughtful wine with love and care is vital – but so too is the culture of sharing, savouring and celebrating good wine in good company, and raising a well-nosed glass – as often as possible – to hard work, friendship, and the magic you simply can’t bottle. This article was originally published in FONDATA, Issue One

FONDATA’s Gavin Lucas speaks to the restaurateur-turned-winegrower Alex Xu about the series of epiphanic moments in the company of great winemakers that completely reshaped his future

Restaurateur-turned-winegrower Alex Xu shares the series of epiphanic moments with great winemakers that completely reshaped his future

FONDATA: Epiphany Wines

Epiphany Wines 

Few names generate as much excitement as Karuizawa in the whisky world. In recent years the lost Japanese distillery – which was only ever in operation for 46 years and was scarcely known outside of its domestic market during that time – has become an icon and collectors’ golden goose.  One of the reasons for Karuizawa’s astonishing collectability is its genuine scarcity. The Japanese distillery will never produce any more whisky. After lying dormant for well over a decade following its closure in 2001, anything that remained was demolished in 2016. This, coupled with the fact Karuizawa was one of Japan’s smallest distilleries, with a miniscule output, means there weren’t huge volumes of stock left when production ceased. But just how did this niche Japanese whisky become so valuable? And which Karuizawa whiskies should be on any serious collectors’ wish list? The history of Karuizawa When the Karuizawa Distillery was built in Miyota in 1955, the owners set out to create a Japanese whisky in the Scottish tradition. In the mid-1950s, that meant Sherry-aged whiskies like The Macallan. As such, the distillery used small stills and Sherry butts that were modified to fit the wine racks that had previously been used on the site when it operated as a winery. Karuizawa also imported 100% Scottish barley (from 1994, exclusively Golden Promise – a richly flavoured spring barley variety). Like Scottish distilleries, Karuizawa initially produced whisky for the sole purpose of blending. It wasn’t until 1976 that Karuizawa produced its first single malt.  The Karuizawa distillery was mothballed in 2001 when its owners Kirin Holdings – who had invested heavily in its wine enterprise – could no longer maintain whisky production. Karuizawa and its sister distillery, Kawaskai, closed for good 10 years later. In 2012, all the Karuizawa distillery equipment, including the stills, were sold, and anything that remained was demolished in 2016.  The distillery is named after the town, Karuizawa, which is just under two hours by train northwest of Tokyo. Until 2022, Karuizawa was the only town to have hosted both the summer and winter Olympic Games events (1964 and 1998 respectively). 

 What is so unique about the Karuizawa distillery location? The location of the Karuizawa Distillery was unique for a number of reasons: firstly, it was on the side of an active volcano, Mount Asama – which meant the water source was incredibly pure. It was also the highest Japanese distillery, so the temperature remained constant at 10˚C and humidity averaged 80%. The misty surroundings encouraged water evaporation before alcohol, resulting in highly concentrated and high-alcohol older whiskies (30- to 40-year-old whiskies at approximately 60% alcohol). Karuizawa distillery character The Karuizawa distillery’s extraordinary location, on the southern slopes of one of Japan’s most active (category A) volcanoes is credited with creating the unique characteristics of the single malt. The cold, snowy winters and summers with up to 80% humidity, created specific atmospheric conditions that were ideal for whisky maturation. The resulting liquid had the enviable ability to age gracefully for many decades, while retaining an abnormally high alcoholic strength and concentrated, complex flavour.  Karuizawa boasted a twin pair of small 4,000-litre stills and wooden washbacks. When the distillery closed in 2001, Shizuoka Distillery owners Gaia Flow bought both the stills and have only been able to successfully bring one back to life. 
 Karuizawa’s rise in popularity It might be easy to forget given Karuizawa’s current notoriety but very few people had heard of the distillery when it closed its doors in 2001. The distillery’s cult-like status is largely thanks to Englishman and former Whisky Magazine Editor Marcin Miller’s foresight. Via his company, Number One Drinks, Miller and his business partner David Croll became the sole distributor of Karuizawa, Chichibu and Hanyu in the early 2000s after purchasing the last 364 barrels.  When Miller and Croll bought the remaining Karuizawa stock after protracted discussions, the world was only just starting to take notice of Japanese whisky. After a smattering of awards for the likes of Nikka in prestigious tasting competitions, all eyes were on Japan by 2015, when Jim Murray named Suntory’s Yamazaki Sherry Cask 2013 the world’s best.  Smack bang in the middle of this, in 2007, the first single-cask bottlings of Karuizawa started to be released in Europe, opening a floodgate of Karuizawa appreciation and secondary market prices that hadn’t previously been seen.  After tiring of seeing Karuizawa bottles flipped and sold for exorbitant amounts, Miller handed over Number One Drinks’ remaining stock to the influential Taiwanese whisky collector Eric Huang in 2011, making him the largest holder of Karuizawa casks in the world. Huang was reportedly in possession of 20 casks in 2018, with other holders owning five casks between them.  One of these owners, renowned collector Mahesh Patel, chose to bottle The Legend of Asama series from his two casks in 2021. Patel’s casks (#4059 and #6183) were both distilled in 1981 and matured at Karuizawa for 20 years before they were moved to Chichibu Distillery and bottled in 2017. Prices for one two-bottle set of The Legend of Asama were in excess of £100,000. There is still some maturing Karuizawa stock that remains unbottled.  Karuizawa lives on: Komoro distillery Karuizawa is one of the whisky world’s truly lost distilleries, with no hopes of resurrection. But, there has been chatter about a new distillery on or around the site for years.  In 2020, it was announced Karuizawa Distillers, spearheaded by Karuizawa locals Koji and Yoshie Shimaoka, would build Komoro Distillery near the original location. The distillery construction has begun and should be completed by December 2022, with spirit flowing in early 2023. When it comes to the liquid, former Kavalan Distiller and Blender Ian Chang will head up production. Chang wishes to employ a number of the late Dr Jim Swan’s techniques at Komoro, including STR – shaved, toasted and re-charred red wine casks. Mizunara casks are also rumoured to be high on the agenda.   There is also keen interest in Shizuoka Distillery, whose owners Gaia Flow salvaged the stills from the original Karuizawa site.  Record-breaking prices In March 2020, a bottle of 52-year-old Karuizawa became the world’s most expensive Japanese whisky sold at auction, fetching £363,000 at Sotheby’s in London. A private collector paid roughly twice the pre-sale estimate for one of only 41 bottles in existence of Karuizawa 52 Year Old Cask #5627 Zodiac Rat 1960. In 2022, a 250ml bottle of Karuizawa 1960 47-year-old whisky sold for more than triple its estimated sale price at almost $160,000. Some of the most collectable Karuizawa bottlings Every Karuizawa whisky is collectable. While the 1980s is heralded as something of a golden age of whisky production at the lost distillery, due to the scarcity of liquid, anything put up for auction is likely to sell for a record-breaking sum.  The early releases from the Japanese distillery were very minimalist. When Karuizawa 42 Year Old (1967) Cask #6426 was first released, it was sold in a glass bottle complete with a white sticker label encased in a thin cardboard box. Initially released for £250, this bottling would later fetch in excess of £20,000 on the secondary market. Today, the most high-profile releases of Karuizawa are collected and displayed like works of art. Bottlings have become more and more beautiful – and elusive. Most are now sold via a ballot. Some of the most notable Karuizawa collections include the Karuizawa Fight Club Collection, Ghost Series, Thousand Arrows and Samurai collection.  The Karuizawa Geisha whiskies Geisha is one of the most recognisable and coveted series of Karuizawa whiskies. Each release of the two-set Geisha series has been met with unfettered excitement. To date, limited sets containing whiskies aged for 29, 30, 31 and 50 years bottled in the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s have been released.  The Geisha bottlings are iconic and collectable for the intricate nuances inside and outside the bottle. The first pair of Geishas (a Bourbon-matured 30-year-old and a Sherry-matured 31-year-old) were released in 2013. This is the only set to feature more than just the Geisha’s face on the bottle. One year later, a 29-year-old and 30-year-old set, named the Aika Geishas, was released. The Geisha’s mirror image graced these bottlings. The Karuizawa Golden Geishas (31- and 33-year-old) were the next in the series, followed by The Emerald Geishas (33- and 35-year-old). In 2018, The Murasaki Geishas, AKA Imperial Purple, were released. Only 60 bottles of each expression were allocated by ballot for £6,000 each. Two years later, another two Karuizawa Geishas known as The Sapphire Geishas were unveiled: a single-cask 31-year-old and 36-year-old. The Pearl (37- and 38-year-old), Sapphire (31- and 36-year-old), and Ruby (34- and 38-year-old) complete the collection.   Karuizawa Noh collection The NOH collection is one of the largest and most popular series of Karuizawa whiskies. Each one of the single cask expressions is incredibly highly sought-after. It is a rare occasion indeed when an entire collection becomes available. The Noh series, which was first introduced in 2008, is named after the traditional Japanese puppet theatre.  Our team is always sourcing the best-priced Karuizawa whiskies on the market. Browse all current Karuizawa listings, or contact us if you are looking for something in particular.

Karuizawa is a phenomenon. Bottlings from the lost Japanese distillery are some of the most collectable in the world – and they’re only becoming more scarce. We chart the small distillery’s mighty history and look at some of Karuizawa’s most highly sought-after whiskies 

We chart the small distillery’s mighty history and look at some of Karuizawa’s most highly sought-after whiskies as they’re only becoming more scarce.

Everything you need to know about Karuizawa

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