In the long river of history, some people came and some people walked, and many wineries in japan's whisky industry were shut down, and eventually became part of history. Among the disappearing Japanese distilleries, Karuizawa is the most popular and the most expensive. The whiskies it produces now sell astronomical amounts around the world. To this end, the Lanyu Cultural Winery Planning and Design Institute has always believed that only when the timing is right, Karuizawa will surely regain its former glory. Even last year, a fake Karuizawa appeared in the eyes of the public. Let's go and see this resurrected Makoraizawa first.
First, Karuizawa is really going to be resurrected
Whisky lovers familiar with Karuizawa may know that the long-defunct Karuizawa distillery belongs to the Japanese Miruka Company, which belongs to the Kirin Company, and Kirin is a member of the Mitsubishi Group, so this time Mitsubishi decided to restart the Karuizawa Distillery.
As early as the beginning of this year, after the promulgation of new regulations on Japanese whisky, it was revealed that many Japanese companies were actively applying for the "Japanese Whisky Manufacturing Exemption Application", including Miroka and Mitsubishi, who owned Karuizawa, and many speculated that they might be preparing for the future production of whisky, but no one expected that this move was actually to rebuild the Karuizawa Distillery!
The reconstruction plan was jointly launched by Mitsubishi Jisho Co., Ltd., Karuizawa Whisky Co., Ltd., and Plan・Do・See Co., Ltd. after an agreement was reached. Plan Do・See has a number of hotels and restaurants in Japan, and the future Karuizawa whisky will be promoted and sold.
Since the original site of Karuizawa has been demolished, a new sake brewery will be built on the following new site.
The distillery is currently under construction and is expected to release its products for sale in 2022.
And crucially, the rebuilt Karuizawa Distillation House brought back all the previous elders.
The sake brewer of the old Karuizawa Distillery, Uchori Yuki, who joined Miroka in 1960 was responsible for the brewing, distillation, and barrel making processes of the Karuizawa Distillery, and he worked for Karuizawa for 50 years until he retired from Miroka in 2008, and this time returned to serve as a consultant for the new distillery.
The director of the factory, Miyuki Nakasato, who joined Karuizawa in 1995, was first in charge of the distillery's oak barrel work, and was also the last director of the factory before Karuizawa closed the factory, retiring in 2018, and he will return in 2022 to become the director of the new distillery.
The president of Karuizawa Whisky Co., Ltd. is Torazuka Tosuka, a sixteenth generation of Karuizawa's local Tootsuka sake brewery who has been involved in the production of Karuizawa whisky, and Tosuka Sake Brewery has extensive experience in using local ingredients from Karuizawa to make sake and shochu, and in order to rebuild the Karuizawa Distillery, it will also use locally grown barley as a raw material to produce whisky.
It seems that the reconstruction of Mitsubishi Properties is to be real, and the future Karuizawa whisky trademark logo has been announced (it also confirms that the Karuizawa whisky trademark has always been owned by Mitsubishi).
It is also announcing to the world that the real Karuizawa whisky is back.
Second, the false resurrection of Karuizawa
Perhaps many people still remember that last year Japan announced the establishment of the new Karuizawa Distillery Co., Ltd. Karuizawa Distillers Inc., and the establishment of a new distillery "Kozo Distillery" at the foot of Karuizawa Asama Mountain, and invited Zhang Yulan, the former chief bartender of Karmalan Distillery, as vice president and chief bartender of Koju, and the koju distillery began construction in early 2021 and is expected to start distilling in 2022.
Koji and Yoshie Shimaoka from the Karuizawa area registered Karuizawa Distillers Inc. Preparations for the construction of the winery began.
In fact, this company has nothing to do with the Karuizawa we said above, it is completely two waves of people. However, it is also a inheritance of the name "Karuizawa".
The new Karuizawa sake brewery, called Kozoku Distillery, is located at an altitude of 910 meters above sea level in Mount Asama and is expected to be completed in 2022, so it has the strength to compete for the highest whisky distillery at the highest altitude.
The most important news is that New Karuizawa has recruited Mr. Zhang Yulan, a winemaker from Taiwan, to join Xiaozhu and become the vice president and chief winemaker.
Zhang Yulan, who studied under Jim Swan, is the 2017 World Whisky Best Brand Ambassador, the world's Best Chief Winemaker of the Year, and has a lot of halos on his body, but what we should know most: without Zhang Yulan, there would be no Kavalan.
Mr. Zhang Yulan led Kavalan to win numerous world gold awards and gave Chinese whisky a place on the fiercely competitive whisky stage. One of the best winemakers in Asia. That's why, in Japan, where whisky talent is plentiful, New Karuizawa insists on choosing a Chinese to make sake.
At that time, many people mistakenly thought that the Kozo Distillery was the newly built Karuizawa Distillery, but it actually had nothing to do with the old Karuizawa, but everyone built in karuizawa, and the company name had the three words Karuizawa in it. Neither KDI nor Kozoku Distillery will be involved in the old business of Karuizawa Distillery.
Although the start-up team is very famous in the industry, from the list of personnel that has been revealed so far, except for the location of the distillation house, it is built in Karuizawa, which cannot be said to be exactly the same as the previous Karuizawa distillery, but can only be said to have nothing to do with it.
The new distillery, located in the small town of Koromo, west of Karuizawa, at the foot of One of Japan's most active volcanoes, Mount Asama, began construction in 2021 and is expected to begin official operations in the spring of 2022. The newly established Karuizawa goal is to brew the best Japanese single malt whisky, and with this goal, it is worth looking forward to!
The production of the new distillery will be small, about 10% of Yamazaki's production, the Komoro distillery is just the starting point, and the Shimaokas will not stop at the new Koromo distillery, and the two will continue to build more distilleries to promote the development of Japanese whisky.
It is hoped that Karuizawa's excellent water source and natural environment will help it continue the legend of "Karuizawa whisky".
However, in the future whisky market, when you see Karuizawa, you still have to carefully identify whether it is the old version of Karuizawa or the new generation of Karuizawa.
3. The history of Karuizawa
Formerly a winery, Karuizawa Distillery was converted into a whisky distillery by the Miroka Group in 1955 and is the smallest and most maverick distillery in Japan. After experiencing the production of base sake, it was only in 1958 that it began producing high-quality Japanese whiskey. Before it was acquired by Mercian Corporation in 1962, it operated for about 7 years, but never really started stable production during this time.
In 1962, the distillery spent a lot of money importing barley from Scotland, producing single malt whiskies with a strong traditional Scottish flavour. However, due to the high cost and low demand, the winery could not survive in the end.
Because it was rebuilt from the winery, the area and scale of the winery are very small, the space is very limited, and the stills can only be used in small sizes, with a volume of about 4000 liters. Therefore, in other respects, Karuizawa must be more stringent in order to control the quality of the whiskies he produces.
The karuizawa distillation is sourced from the snow water of the local Asama Mountains, which is made from Golden Promise barley imported from Sug and matured in high-grade Spanish sherry barrels.
In addition, the traditional direct fire heating distillation technology that has long been eliminated has been adopted, allowing Karuizawa to naturally integrate the traditional Scottish flavor into his whisky, and the rich peat flavor, obvious oil texture and heavy wine body have become the characteristics that distinguish Karuizawa from other Japanese whiskies.
However, for the Japanese who were facing economic crisis at that time, this high-quality whisky could not become a mainstream consumer product, so Karuizawa's sales were very bad.
In the end, Karuizawa could not resist the test of the market and announced the closure of the factory in 2000. In 2011, all of its inventory (barrels) were acquired by Ichiban Beverage Company, which was established in 2006. Since then, the wine has been sold by individual wine merchants in Taiwan, the United Kingdom and France.
In fact, the distillery was also acquired by kirin Company, but it did not resume production, and after several turns, the land and factory buildings in Karuizawa were all sold. Eventually, Karuizawa Sake Brewery disappeared into the long river of history.
What makes people feel the most lamented here is that Karuizawa stopped the factory not because it was not good enough, but precisely because it was too good, but it was not born at the right time, and the original intention of adhering to it became a heavy stone that dragged down itself and was eliminated by the regrets of the times.
Karuizawa Distillation produces an extremely limited amount of whisky, with a strong Sherry barrel Scotch whisky flavor, and is now an unattainable collector's treasure.
Fourth, Karuizawa, which money cannot buy
Karuizawa's rise to fame is inseparable from the circle of whisky merchants in Europe, whether it is a magazine wine review, or the sale of products across Europe, or karuizawa's two single barrel sherry barrel single malt whiskies won the "Malt Madman" gold medal in 2007 and 2008.
Since then, this whisky from Japan has gradually been lifted from the veil of mystery and embraced by many whisky lovers. What makes Karuizawa truly famous is its highlight moment at the Hong Kong auction house.
In May 2013, at the Powerlong Auction in Hong Kong, a bottle of 1968 Karuizawa whisky sold for twice the estimated price of HK$45,220.
In 2015, in the same place, a bottle of 1960 Karuizawa fetched a high price of HK$918,750, setting a world record for the price of a single bottle of Japanese whiskey.
On 18 May 2018, at Bonhams Bonhams Auction House in Hong Kong, the 1960 Karuizawa 52 Year Single Malt Whisky sold for HK$2,450,000.
Karuizawa, who fell because he was not favored by the market, gradually became a legendary whiskey that was difficult to find and repeatedly hit the sky high price in the market.
Unfortunately, these glorious moments occurred after the winery closed down. Perhaps it is precisely because of the scarcity of existing sake and the high quality of karuizawa that it is highly sought after in today's market.
In the hearts of many Japanese enthusiasts, Karuizawa is a collectionable work of art and a legendary symbol.
Fortunately, in today's economically developed world, Karuizawa has the opportunity to reappear in the jianghu. But for Karuizawa enthusiasts and collectors, it's a double day of ice and fire. Enthusiasts will be expected to drink the same taste of Karuizawa at a lower price. But karuizawa in the hands of collectors may no longer be rare and begin to depreciate. However, the Lanyu Cultural Winery Planning and Design Institute believes that this may not be good news, the revival of the distillery must be positioned as a high-end, the wine can not be cheap, the rich are not so bad, and the money can not afford to drink. For the collection, the batch of Karuizawa is still drinking one less bottle, I am afraid that it will still rise.