輕井沢 Karuizawa Asama 1999/2000
700 ml / 50.5%
Founded in 1955 with a keen eye on producing high quality whisky, Karuizawa was mothballed in 2000 and since then has achieved the kind of mythical stature reserved for only a select few distilleries. During production it solely used Golden Promise barley imported from Scotland - the Golden Promise was considered vital for long maturation. Direct fired stills, Sherry casks sourced from Spain and an on site cooperage all contributed to the high quality of their whisky. In 2011 Number One Drinks bought the remaining stock and it has been instrumental in the phoenix-like resurrection of a distillery that rarely released any bottles during its life time.
This Number One Drinks Asama bottling is a vatting of selected vintage casks from 1999 to 2000.
輕井澤的天然環境很適合釀酒，蒸餾所用的水源自附近的淺間山。淺間山是活火山，土壤肥沃，而且降雪量甚多，雪融化後的水就成為了滋養農地的優質水源。另外輕井澤使用糖化率偏低的傳統Golden Promise大麥，麥香濃郁，這以往被視作高級威士忌所用的大麥，成本較高。佔了九成多以上的輕井澤原酒，都是使用歐洲紅橡木雪莉桶作陳年，只有非常少量原酒用波本桶 Bourbon Cask 與紅酒桶Wine Cask 用作陳年。歐洲紅橡木雪莉桶的價錢是美洲白橡木波本桶的十倍，因此輕井澤威士忌至今成為愛好日本威士忌人士熱愛。
這款Karuizawa Asama選用1999及2000年的原酒混合而成(約12年酒齡)
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