Set of (5) Rare Japanese Karuizawa Aroma Tasting Glencairn Glasses in Original Boxes. These glasses, originally sold as a set of ten with different ukiyo-e prints on either side of the boxes showing various kabuki actors, were produced in 2014 to coincide with the release of the Karuizawa 30 Year Old Samurai series, featuring various rare single-casks aged in sherry butts and released by Number One Drinks. The three barrels, each with roughly 500 bottles filled, sold out immediately, as did the uniquely designed glasses, with bottles now reselling on Christies and other major auction sites in excess of $5000 apiece. Each glass bears the kanji for the word "Samurai" on the side, and is elevated on a high footed base. A specifically designed lid with an orb handle comes with each one for nosing, to ensure that not even a whiff of one of the most valuable whiskies in the world can escape before being savored. 

Box Size: 2 1/2 x 2 1/2 x 6 1/2 in. 

Founded in 1955, Karuizawa Distillery was a Japanese whisk(e)y distillery located at Miyota, a town on the southern slopes of an active complex volcano, Mount Asama, in Kitasaku District, Nagano Prefecture, the smallest distillery in Japan. They gained national fame for importing golden wheat from Scotland for their mash, but the owners, Mercian Corporation, did not produce many single-cask releases, instead selling their stock for blending into other bottlings, chiefly for Ocean. Due to the collapse of the global whiskey market that began in the late 1970s, the stills were mothballed in 2000 and eventually closed in 2011, but their reputation for unmatched flavor and quality became known outside Japan during the late 2000s whiskey boom, with original Karuizawa liquid now among the most rare and sought after in the whiskey world after Port Ellen and the ubiquitous Pappy Van Winkle. The remaining stock from the distillery was purchased and re-branded over the next twenty years, released as a series of increasingly valuable luxury whiskies, with a single 1960 bottle selling at Sotheby’s for £363,000 in 2020. In 2022, in response to the newfound fame and appreciation, New Karuizawa Whisky, Karuizawa Whisky Co., Ltd. went into operation in a new facility, using two pot stills made by Forsyths in Scotland that are identical to their original stills but slightly larger, and under the direction of two former master distillers, Osami Uchibori and Yoshiyuki Nakazato. 

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