Karuizawa 1980/2013 33 Year Old “Pourquoi faut-il?” | Cask #4556, 225 Bottles for LMDW

2026.10.17

Distilled in March 1980 and bottled 33 years later in July 2013 — just 225 bottles from one Karuizawa sherry butt.

Karuizawa 1980/2013 33 Year Old “Pourquoi faut-il?” is a single-cask Japanese single malt drawn from the closed Karuizawa Distillery and bottled exclusively for La Maison du Whisky in France.

The whisky came from Sherry Butt #4556: distilled in March 1980, bottled in July 2013 after 33 years, released at cask strength of 60.3% ABV, with only 225 bottles produced.

March 1980 to July 2013: 33 years in one cask

The defining idea of this bottling is the combination of a clear vintage and a single individual cask.

Spirit distilled at Karuizawa in March 1980 spent 33 years in Sherry Butt #4556 before being bottled in July 2013.

Rather than blending several casks into a house style, the release preserves the development of one cask across more than three decades.

225 bottles at 60.3% cask strength

Only 225 bottles were filled from cask #4556.

The whisky was released at 60.3% ABV as a cask-strength bottling, retaining the concentration and structure of the mature spirit rather than reducing it to a conventional bottling strength.

One of four 2013 artist-label bottlings for La Maison du Whisky

“Pourquoi faut-il?” was one of four artist-label Karuizawa bottlings prepared for La Maison du Whisky in 2013.

The group also included the 1980 “J’avance vers le futur” and the 1981 releases “Prendre le rythme” and “En Soi.”

Each bottle came from a different cask and carried its own age, strength and production count, presenting four separate views of mature Karuizawa.

The title “Pourquoi faut-il?”

The French phrase “Pourquoi faut-il?” introduces the question “Why must one…?” or “Why is it necessary…?”

The labels for the four releases were created by Japanese artist Yuuka Yamada.

The artwork and individual titles gave each scarce cask its own identity beyond the technical details of vintage and maturation.

Strictly speaking, “Pourquoi faut-il?” is best understood as the title attached to cask #4556, rather than the name of the entire four-bottle series.

Dry smoke, dark fruit and mineral sherry character

Historical tasting notes describe a nose of smoke, Pu-erh tea, spice, dark chocolate, orange and dried fruit.

The palate has been described with figs, dark fruit, tannin, old smoke and mineral notes.

Rather than presenting only the rich sweetness often associated with long sherry maturation, cask #4556 has been noted for a drier, more mineral and slightly austere smoky style.

The finish is exceptionally long, moving through leather, mocha, walnut and dark fruit.

Karuizawa’s reputation grew after the distillery closed

Karuizawa Distillery began production in the 1950s in Miyota, Nagano, on the southern slopes of Mount Asama.

Production ended around 2000 and the distillery later closed. The remaining casks were gradually released as increasingly scarce single-cask bottlings, building Karuizawa’s international reputation after production had already ceased.

“Pourquoi faut-il?” is therefore a whisky distilled while Karuizawa was still active in 1980, but presented as an individual work only after closure, in 2013.

For a look at Karuizawa from an earlier era of regular age-stated releases, see our article on Karuizawa 15 Year Old.

Another 33-year-old from the same 1980 vintage

The four-bottle LMDW group also included another 1980 vintage matured for 33 years: “J’avance vers le futur.”

That whisky came from ex-bourbon cask #6431, bottled at 62.1% ABV with only 124 bottles produced.

Two whiskies distilled in the same year and aged for the same length of time, yet shaped by completely different casks — a concise illustration of why single-cask Karuizawa remains so compelling.