Hong Kong Box - Karuizawa, Hanyu & Chichibu

This stunning Premium Collection Set was released for the Hong Kong market!

Chichibu

From its Mizunara wash backs and small stills with steep lyne arms to the fact that the mashman uses a wooden paddle to stir the mash, Chichibu is a hands-on distillery with quality as an intrinsic focus. With the ground now broken on a blending room, and an off-site cooperage, Ichiro Akuto's distillery, formed from the ashes of his grandfather's Hanyu distillery, is one of the finest producers in Japan.

Distilled: 2009

Bottled: 2015

Cask Number: 640

61.6% ABV / 70cl

Bottle Number: One of only 214 bottles released

Karuizawa

The mountain town of Karuizawa is situated on a high plain at the base of active volcano, Mount Asama, in the heart of Japan’s mainland. In 1956, the wine and spirits giant, Daikoku Budoshu, expanded their already established empire there by building a distillery with the onus of producing a single malt to be utilised in the company’s blends. They christened it ‘Ocean’. 1958 saw a freer importation channel opening up for malt, and barley flowed into Japan from the UK. Karuizawa Factory, as it was then known, worked with Golden Promise barley (also famously used by Macallan), and matured their signature spirit in sherry casks, yet very little actually left the country, which in future would lend hugely to its collectability.

During the 1980s and 90s Japan's economy was truly booming, but with this prosperity came a generation of young, trendy and affluent consumers who began to turn their backs on companies they deemed “old fashioned”. Instead, their attentions turned to wines, with only low grade, neutral tasting whiskies managing to find any favour as mixing fodder. The relatively small Karuizawa distillery, with its robust and characterful style, never stood a chance, and in the year 2000 it was sadly mothballed (and completely demolished in 2016).

Jumping ahead to 2007, independent bottler Number One Drinks acquired the distillery's remaining stocks, and imported Ocean Karuizawa Distillery whisky (as it was re-branded to in 1977) for the European market. The rarity of official expressions, and the now finite supply made for an explosive combination in the world of rare whisky, with die-hard collectors clamouring to get hold of any releases, and driving a buoyant second hand market. The rest, as they say, is history.

Bottled: 2015

Age: 35 Years Old

Cask Type: Bourbon

Cask Number: 8185

55.1% ABV / 70cl

Bottle Number: One of only 137 bottles released

Hanyu

Closed in 2000 and dismantled in 2004, Hanyu's legacy lives on thanks to Ichiro Akuto who purchased the remaining 400 casks and began releasing it in the Ichiro's Malt card series. This marketing masterstroke featured a different playing card on the label, allowing people to easily remember their favourites and encouraging collectors to complete the full deck. There were only 17 years of production at Hanyu so stocks are limited and scarce.

Distilled: 2000

Bottled: 2015

Cask Number: 955

60% ABV / 70cl

Bottle Number: One of only 295 bottles released

Please note condition of box.

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