Mars Iwai Tradition Chateau Mars Japanese Wine Cask Finish Japan & Singapore Exclusive Japanese Blended Whisky (2013) 75cl
1 of 2495 bottles produced.
Mars also produce their own wine. Well, their parent company Hombo Shuzo has been distilling spirits and brewing beer and producing wine since 1872.
Produced by Hombo Shuzo, which also has a winery in Yamanashi Prefecture in Japan. This Whisky has been finished in their own Chateau Mars red wine barrels for more than a year. This is an older bottling from 2013 bottled at 40% ABV and about 2,495 bottles were released.
The Iwai blend is a mix of 75% malt and 25% corn/grain spirit
TASTING NOTES
Nose: Red berries, claret wine, croissants
Palate: More red berries, vanilla, spice and earthy.
Finish: Summer pudding meets vanilla slice
About Mars
Japan's highest distillery, Shinshu was built by the whisky division of the Hombo Shuzo Co, known as Mars, in 1985. It is located in Miyada, a village in the Nagano Prefecture, and operated for seven years before being mothballed in 1992. Despite being relatively succesful in their native market, Mars had not had the success of its competitors Nikka and Suntory on the global stage, and the struggling Japanese whisky market at the time forced the company's hand. In the subsequent years however, things began to improve, and Shinshu distillery was eventually re-opened in 2011. Mars bottles its single malt under the Komagatake brand, and have also opened a sister distillery called Tsunuki to provide for its popular blends.
This whisky has been aged in the stone warehouse of Mars Tsunuki distillery in Kagoshima. It is a vatting of ex-Bourbon cask aged spirit.
In 1985, Hombo Breweries opened the Mars Shinshu distillery in Miyata village at the foot of the Komagatake Alps in Japan’s Nagano prefecture. Whisky production there takes place only during winter, with the rest of the year spent brewing beer and distilling other spirits. However, with the popularity of whisky enjoying a resurgence in Japan, “winter” now lasts for about six months at the distillery.
40% ABV
75cl
