Mars 4 Year Old 2020 Tsunuki Aging Single Spanish Virgin Oak Cask #T1880 Foundations Japanese Single Malt Whisky (2024) 70cl
It seems like Spanish Oak and Japanese Whisky seems to be a hugely successful winning formula. We have seen Suntory use this to great success prompting huge demand for their Spanish sherry and peated Spanish oak cask products. The same is happening here. Intense depths of flavour even after 4 years. Heaven forbid what the 20 year old Mars Tsunuki casks will taste like.
When you arrive at the Tsunuki distillery, which opened its doors in 2016, it's impossible to miss the huge 26-meter-high black tower that still houses the column used until the 1970s to produce shochus. With this version aged in a Spanish oak cask, Mars unveils a single malt with a strong personality. Wonderfully oxidative, herbaceous and strongly spiced, its aromatic palette is unmistakably reminiscent of Mortlach, one of the most complex and authentic single malts from Scotland's Speyside region.
TASTING NOTES
Nose : ample, gourmand. Unctuous scents of chestnut and Chantilly cream, others more fruity and oxidative (orange, pomegranate, raisin) or more herbaceous (green Chartreuse) give richness and complexity to the aromatic palette. It evolves with class on subtle scents of Havana.
Palate : lively, unctuous. Tonic, the palette oscillates between oily (almond, cashew) and fruity (grenadine) flavours. Supported by a very pleasant chocolate bitterness, it then moves naturally towards freshly herbaceous (thyme), peppery and malty tones.
Overall : elegant, voluptuous. Mustard seeds, walnuts, tobacco and a delicious peppercorn sauce make for a particularly nuanced and original palette. Then, bananas, oranges and milky flavors (salted butter) take over a slightly empyreumatic finish (apricot kernel).
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.
60.3% ABV
70cl
