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After more than 20 years Japan’s most legendary whisky distillery is back

The world-renowned Karuizawa distillery closed its doors in 2000 but thanks to a recent investment, and exclusive global partnership with dekantã, the legend lives on. The Karuizawa distillery was established in 1955 at the foothills of an active volcano, Mount Asama. The location was notable for being the highest distillery in Japan at 850m above sea level. Despite being the country’s smallest whisky producer, Karuizawa had a global reputation for producing first-class malt whiskies. Karuizawa stopped producing whisky in 2000 and has since been known as a ‘silent’ distillery. As global interest in Japanese whisky has grown in recent years, demand for stock from the closed Karuizawa distillery has increased dramatically, with bottles selling for record prices at auction houses around the world. In 2020 a bottle of Karuizawa 52-year-old became the most valuable bottle of Japanese whisky ever sold, achieving £363,000 / $435,273 through Sotheby’s in London. Now, some 24 years after the initial closure, Karuizawa Whisky is back, along with members of the original distilling team. The new Karuizawa Whisky was built by Shigeru Totsuka, who hired the former Karuizawa Master Distiller, Osami Uchibori, as an advisor, who has sadly since passed away, and his apprentice, distiller Yoshiyuki Nakazato, as Master Distiller. Unlike the old Karuizawa distillery, which was situated in the neighbouring town of Miyota, the new distillery is situated in the town of Karuizawa itself, known for its stunning year-round vistas that range from vibrant green and yellow forests in the summer months to gleaming snow- covered peaks that attract skiers from around the globe in the winter. “I strive to produce a liquid that both respects and surpasses the old Karuizawa whisky” - Yoshiyuki Nakazato, Master Distiller, Karuizawa Whisky The new distillery, built in 2022, located at the base of Mount Asama, sees water flow through volcanic lava rock that surrounds the distillery giving it a unique quality. Totsuka and his team are more than aware of the rich legacy that comes with the distillery’s name, and they are keen to protect this with everything they have. It is for this reason that they have chosen to use only top-quality sherry casks and each of these has a minimum ageing requirement of 10 years, ensuring that when bottles of Karuizawa single malt finally hit the market, they will be of the highest standard. In keeping with the tradition of the old distillery, the smallest in Japan, Karuizawa Whisky are only filling a very limited number of casks, with a clear emphasis on quality over quantity. dekantã, the world’s leading online retailer of fine and rare Japanese whisky, has fostered a close working relationship with the new Karuizawa Whisky to bring both the joys of their liquid and their epic story to Japanese whisky lovers across the world. Through a global partnership dekantã have the exclusive rights to sell a limited number of single malt sherry casks from Karuizawa Whisky which are available for their loyal customers to buy, allowing them to live the dream of owning a full cask of whisky from a legendary Japanese distillery. Cask purchases come with opportunities to sample the liquid, visit the distillery, and create one’s very own independent bottling of Karuizawa single malt whisky, once the 10-year minimum ageing requirement has been met. “It is nothing short of an honour to be entrusted with Karuizawa’s legacy and liquid.” - Makiyo Masa, Founder, dekantã What’s more, when the time finally comes, limited edition official bottle releases will be available via dekantã, while working on their very own independent bottlings of this exceptional whisky. Until then, dekantã will be keeping their customers and cask owners up to date with regular news, content, offers and updates from Karuizawa Whisky. “Nakazato is the fundamental route for a successful Karuizawa whisky style. When I look at what they are doing here, I think they will make some very very good liquid for the new, reborn, Karuizawa.” - Daniel Lam, Global Head of Wine & Whisky, Spink & Son Karuizawa Whisky casks are available exclusively through www.dekanta.com

New culinary highlights in Lufthansa Business Class

Board, take off, relax: Lufthansa is constantly developing its product range in all classes in order to provide passengers with a pleasant journey. In Business Class on long-haul flights, new highlights are now being added to the culinary offering. Heiko Reitz, Chief Commercial Officer Lufthansa Airlines, explains: "The entire Lufthansa team is proud to present our new Business Class experience. Our culinary highlights, the celebration of German bread culture and the collaboration with traditional brands such as Ziegler for the new Lufthansa Aperitif Avionic underline the timeless elegance of our brand. The other new products that we will soon be introducing in various travel classes are further steps towards our goal of creating a whole new level of excitement for our guests." Bread is one of the Germans' favorite foods. There are more than 3,000 different types of bread in Germany, and bread culture has been part of the German UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage for ten years. Lufthansa guests in Business Class on long-haul flights from Germany can now enjoy special bread developed exclusively for Lufthansa by baker-sommelier and World Baker of the Year 2022 Axel Schmitt. The handmade breads, which are only available on board Lufthansa flights from Germany, are baked fresh daily from natural ingredients, do not contain any additives and are served with handmade butter and high-quality olive oil as an appetizer. In each new quarter, there will be a different type of bread specially created for Lufthansa. Lufthansa guests can also look forward to further innovations in in-flight service in Business Class on long-haul routes. In future, the new signature drink Avionic, as an alternative to water and sparkling wine, will be served with nuts as a welcome drink on board before take-off. The Avionic Apéritif is a special creation by the Ziegler distillery, developed with Sven Riebel, Frankfurt bar icon and "Host of the Year". The drink, which is based on peach notes and wild meadow herbs, is mixed on ice with tonic. For the first time ever, Business Class guests will be served a vegetarian amuse-bouche, from antipasti to sushi, as a prelude to the first service on board. Fresh fruit will also be added to the dessert menu. There is a new, modular snack offer for the small appetite in between, which varies depending on the length of the route and time of day. This includes snacks, fresh fruit and, on longer flights, fresh salty and sweet treats such as tomato and mozzarella skewers or wraps with pastrami. From June, every passenger will be given a small box of Lindt chocolates in an exclusive Lufthansa design as a farewell gift. Lufthansa Business Class guests will thus be offered an all-round appealing service, from the welcome moment to the farewell gesture.

Vitesco Technologies and DHL enter into strategic partnership

Vitesco Technologies focuses on maximum sustainability, resilience and efficiency in logistics. Key to this is a new strategic partnership with DHL Supply Chain as a Lead Logistics Partner (LLP). As of March 2024, the logistics flows of Vitesco Technologies’ twelve European locations will be centrally managed by DHL through the LLP Center of Excellence in Warsaw, Poland. This corresponds to around 100,000 transport movements within the supply chain to the plants as well as from the plants to the customers – and thus accounts for about a third of Vitesco Technologies’ total freight volume. “The main driver of our business is the development and production of sustainable technologies for the mobility of tomorrow. We want to run this business in a CO2-neutral way by 2040. Sustainable logistics solutions are an important step along this path, which we will be taking together with DHL Supply Chain in the future,” says Thomas Kirchermeier, Head of Supply Chain Management at Vitesco Technologies. The big advantage of the new logistics concept is that, as a lead logistics partner, DHL Supply Chain bundles the freight volumes of numerous large companies in order to generate synergy effects and thus achieves new potentials for optimization. The logistics experts make use of the entire market of freight carriers and forwarding agents and can provide the fastest, safest, most environmentally friendly and most cost-effective transport solutions. This benefits Vitesco Technologies and all customers: supply chains become more robust and more reliable. Intelligent logistics helps to reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions Central freight management by a leading global logistics provider such as DHL also enables the maximum transparency of transport routes – which not only benefits efficiency, but also reduces greenhouse gas emissions. This is achieved by combining deliveries that were previously handled separately or by increasingly relying on low and zero carbon emissions transportation. This is where Vitesco Technologies’ expertise in the field of electromobility meets DHL’s practical experience, as the company operates the largest fleet of electric vehicles within the logistics sector. “The first joint pilot projects have already shown that we can leverage considerable synergies through a seamlessly integrated supply chain. The cost savings and efficiencies that we have already been able to realize together with Vitesco Technologies are now paving the way for further global growth. With our focus on a consistent standardization and orchestration of logistics processes, we want to further minimize greenhouse gas emissions, maximize the efficiency of supply chains and improve their resilience in the coming years,” says Hendrik Venter, CEO DHL Supply Chain Europe, Middle East & Africa.