Wine for sale: Mars - Shinshu
Mars - Shinshu
Japan, Nagano. Distillery operational. Owner: Hombo Shuzo Co. Ltd.
Founded in 1985, Mars-Shinshu had been a distillery in-the-making since 1918. Its history has something of the “back to the future” about it. In 1918, Kijiro Iwai, director of Settsu Shozu, sent Masataka Taketsuru to Scotland to learn the basics of distillation. On his return in 1920, he found his employer at the head of a company that had gone adrift. Settsu Shozu was unable to follow through on its plans for a new distillery and in the end it was Shinjiro Torii (Suntory) that benefited from Taketsuru's experience first, using it to found the Yamazaki distillery. In 1960, Kijiro Iwai's son-in-law, then director of the Hombo company, decided to take up the challenge. Drawing on the experience of his father-in-law and Taketsuru's notes, he began distilling a robust, smoky malt at one of his wine and brandy production units in Yamanashi. Quite unsuited to the tastes of Japanese consumers at the time who were accustomed to more subtle flavours, it was a commercial failure. In 1978, however, he made a second attempt at the Kagoshima site, before finally deciding to open Mars-Shinshu in 1985. Caught up in the upheaval of a crisis in whisky consumption in Japan, the distillery ceased production in 1992. In 2011, following major restoration work, Mars-Shinshu then opened once again, this time for the long run.
- Mars 2015 Of. Komagatake Peated Cask 1955 €191
- Mars Maltage Of. Cosmo Malt Selection €45
- Mars Of. Komagatake Nature of Shinshu Kohiganzakura €132
- Komagatake Of. Limited Edition 2018 LMDW €83
- Komagatake Of. Double Cellars bottled 2019 LMDW €117
- Marsmalt 2014 Of. Le Papillon Miyamashirocho Cask n°1860 - bottled 2017 LMDW €733
- Komagatake 2012 Of. American White Oak Puncheon n°1555 - Bottled 2016 LMDW 60th Anniversary €224
- Komagatake 3 years 2013 Of. Tsunuki Aging One of 2274 Commemorative Edition €139
- Komagatake 2015 Of. Yakushima Aging Cask n°2037 - bottled 2019 LMDW €160
- Mars Of. The Lucky Cat - Ash'99 €122
- Mars Of. The Lucky Cat - Mint €99
- Mars Of. Tsunuki The First 2016-2017 One of 9984 - bottled 2020 €104
- Komagatake 2011 Of. The Revival One of 6000 - bottled 2014 €83
- Komagatake 2016 Of. Yakushima Aging Cask n°2063 - bottled 2022 LMDW €203
- Komagatake Of. IPA Cask Finish bottled 2021 LMDW €89
- Komagatake Of. Christian Drouin's Cask Finish bottled 2021 €131
- Komagatake Of. 2021 Edition €86
- Mars Maltage Of. Cosmo Manzanilla Sherry Cask Finish - bottled 2021 €77
- Tsunuki Of. 2016-2017 - Peated bottled 2020 €83
- Mars Of. KBP - Kumamoto Bartender's Project €60
- Mars Of. Tsunagu €60