Dekanta, a family-owned company based in Japan who specializes in high-end Japanese whisky, has just closed a ballot for a very special whisky. With over 4,000 entries received for just 45 sets of Karuizawa Shibari 35-Year-Old Sherry Cask Series, the bottles are now being allocated to the lucky ballot winners.
Karuizawa Japanese whisky is now a sought-after brand internationally, but the distillery has had a turbulent history. Karuizawa Japanese whisky has a selection of five types of whiskys that range from under 10 years to over 40 years. Located at Miyota, a town on the southern slopes of an active complex volcano, Mount Asama, the company was established in 1955 and the distillery began production in 1956.
After flourishing for three decades, Karuizawa shut down back in 2000, and dismantled in 2011, due to low demand for whisky in Japan. The remaining casks of whisky were sold, and in subsequent years have been bottled as single cask whiskys, some of which have recently sold for some of the greatest price tags for whisky in the world.
The Karuizawa Shibari 35-Year-Old Sherry Cask Series comes in a selection of blue, red, white and black, each featuring a rope tied in true Shibari – the ancient Japanese art of rope bondage – fashion. The rare collection consists of just 180 bottles that were collectively drawn from a single, 35-year-old sherry cask whisky. The bottles have a steep price of $24,500 and have a 700ml capacity with the black (Nawa-Do – the way of the rope) being bottled at 56.5% ABV and the blue (Karada – body), white (Nawa – rope) and red (Nawashi a maker of rope) ones being bottled at 60.6% ABV.
These intricate rope designs are deeply rooted in the context of the Shibari art form with black representing dignity, red representing passion and authority; blue representing stability; and white representing purity.
With only 45 sets available, dekanta opened up their ballot for imbibers to try this rare whisky and announced the winners via email starting February 19, 2019. Winners of the ballot now have the opportunity, a 48-hour window, to purchase one or more Karuizawa Shibari 35-Year-Old Sherry Cask bottles.
If you’re a Karuizawa collector, but missed out on the recent ballot, dekanta offer a concierge service to source the most exclusive and sought-after bottles of Japanese whisky directly for their clients. Even if you don’t see it listed on dekanta.com, dekanta’s team of whisky hunters are dedicated to helping you find the bottle you’re looking for.
