Distilling to return to Karuizawa Big news just in: a team including Ian Chang formerly of Kavalan has announced the return of whisky distilling to Karuizawa in Japan. It will be based at the all new Komoro distillery with the aim to create “the best Japanese single malt whisky.” There’s legendary whiskies and then there’s Karuizawa. Whisky from the Japanese distillery that stopped production in 2000 is probably the most sought-after in the world, with bottles changing hands for thousands of pounds. So, it’s with great excitement that we heard the news that distilling will be returning to Karuizawa in Nagano Prefecture in 2022.