A heavily peated Komagatake single cask, distilled in early 2012 and bottled in September 2019 for the Whisky Festival in Tokyo. It spent seven and a half years in a heavily toasted virgin American white oak hogshead and came out at 60%.
About This Whisky
The malt was peated to 50ppm, which is heavy by any standard. Mars blender Tsuchiya hand-picked the cask for the festival. New, toasted oak brings a creamy vanilla sweetness that tempers the smoke, and several tasters found it less smoky than the numbers suggest. When it was released it was one of the oldest single malts from the restarted distillery. A reviewer at the festival noted cinnamon on oranges and leathery peat on the nose, then bitter chocolate, liquorice and vanilla malt.
Tasting Profile
- Nose: Cinnamon over orange, with malty, leathery peat, spice and wet moss.
- Palate: Bitter chocolate and liquorice, softened by vanilla and malt.
- Finish: Long oak with light smoke, dark chocolate and butterscotch.
Serving & Food
Bring the 60% down with a splash of water and let the glass sit while the smoke settles. It works well as a smoky highball too. Try it with grilled mackerel, smoked cheese or a dark chocolate tart.
How to Enjoy
Peat lovers who want to see how Mars handles heavily smoked malt in fresh oak.
Product Details
Distillery: Mars Shinshu (now Mars Komagatake)
Country: Japan
Region: Miyada, Nagano
Edition: Whisky Festival in Tokyo 2019
Category: Single cask Japanese single malt whisky
Distilled: 2012
Bottled: September 2019
Age: 7.5 years
Cask: Heavily toasted virgin American white oak hogshead #1578
Peat: 50ppm
ABV: 60%
Proof: 120
Volume: 700mL
About the Distillery
Hombo Shuzo restarted distilling at Shinshu in 2011 after nineteen silent years, and its first new-era whisky appeared as The Revival 2011.
The company describes Komagatake malt as shaped by snowmelt and thick mountain fog, which slow the maturation in the cool Nagano forest. The post-2011 spirit has also been used to try new ideas, from peated malt to fresh oak and casks aged away from the mountains, and single casks like this one show where those trials have led.