A new release of The Whisky Exchange’s highly sought-after Karuizawa Geishas will be sold by ballot starting Sept. 21 – and it will be the penultimate pair.

The latest pair, the Karuizawa Ruby Geishas, consists of a 34-year old and a 38-year-old whisky, both matured in sherry butts, providing the classic rich and dark Karuizawa style.

Launched in 2013, the series is designed by Raj Chavda, creative director at The Whisky Exchange, to celebrate the skill, beauty and tradition of the geisha, per a news release. The Ruby Geishas are the eighth pair to be released.

Over a decade ago, Sukhinder Singh, co-founder of The Whisky Exchange and Elixir Distillers, was one of just a handful of people to purchase the remaining casks from the closed Japanese whisky distillery, Karuizawa. Since then, these casks have been carefully nurtured and monitored, bottled only when Sukhinder believes the time is right.  With only very few casks left from the long-closed Karuizawa distillery, these bottlings are some of the rarest whiskies on the market.

The Ruby Geishas are extremely limited, with just 247 bottles of the 34-year-old and 223 bottles of the 38-year-old available. They will be sold via The Whisky Exchange by ballot, retailing at £18,000 and £20,000 respectively. Anyone interested in purchasing a bottle will need to visit the Karuizawa Geishas page and follow the links to enter the ballot before 11.59pm BST on 21 September 2021.