Legendary Japanese Distillery to Reopen Its Doors After Shutting Down in 2011 — But Don’t Expect To Get a Bottle Anytime Soon

The new Karuizawa Distillery exterior. (Image via Dekanta)

Karuizawa Whisky Company and online retailer Dekanta have partnered to bring back Karuizawa Whisky.

According to Dekanta’s website, the collaboration involves a plan to revive the once-world-renowned whiskey brand and bring it back to its former glory by obtaining the rights to use the Karuizawa name and building a new distillery only seven miles away from where the original stood.

Since the original distillery closed its doors in 2011, Karuizawa Whisky has become one of the rarest bottles on the market. To maintain its reputation, the new collaboration has brought on former employees of the original distillery to ensure the whisky’s principles are kept intact.

“Our first goal is to make whisky that is very similar to the old Karuizawa whisky, to continue that tradition, and then we may challenge other offerings, but our first goal is definitely to make whisky that is as good as the old Karuizawa whisky, using the person who made it, similar casks, similar stills etc.,” Distillery owner Shigeru Totsuka said. “We want to create some of the very best single malt in Japan.”

However, don’t expect that will be released from the new distillery won’t be for another 10 years.

“We have already sourced a large number of top quality sherry casks from Spain. Initially, we are using only sherry casks. What’s more, all of these casks will sit for a minimum of 10 years – no single malt will be released before then.” Totsuka said.

Together, the brand and Dekanta look to protect the Karuizawa name and have said they are unlikely to have a core line readily available. Presumably, this is to maintain the scarcity and demand for the liquid by only offering small-batch and single-cask expressions.

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