Mars Komagatake Limited Edition Single Malt Japanese Whisky 750ml

The Mars Komagatake Limited Edition Single Malt Japanese Whisky is the flagship annual bottling of Mars Shinshu, the distillery Hombo Shuzo operates at 798 metres in the Central Alps of Nagano Prefecture — the highest whisky distillery in Japan. It takes its name from Mt. Komagatake, the granite peak that towers over the stillhouse and feeds it soft alpine snowmelt water.

Each Limited Edition is a vatting assembled by the Mars blending team from the distillery's maturing mountain-aged malt stocks, drawing across cask types and warehouse positions to capture where the house style stands that year. It is bottled non-chill filtered at 48% ABV (96 proof), a strength Mars reserves for these annual statements rather than its standard-proof core range.

Cool temperatures and thin mountain air slow maturation at this altitude, and the resulting malt keeps a delicacy that lowland Japanese whiskies rarely show. Allocations of each year's edition to the United States run only a few thousand bottles, and the series has become a fixture for collectors following the resurgence of Mars since the distillery's 2011 restart.

The pour opens with ripe orchard fruit, honey, and light florals over vanilla and toasted oak. The palate layers rich malt, caramel, and delicate spice with citrus zest and the faintest breath of smoke, finishing refined and lingering on soft oak, fruit, and gentle pepper. Neat or with a drop of water, it is alpine Japanese whisky at its most polished.

• Size: 750ml
• Proof: 96 (48% ABV)
• Class: No Age Statement Single Malt
• Origin: Miyada, Nagano Prefecture, Japan
• Distillery: Mars Shinshu (Mars Komagatake) Distillery, Hombo Shuzo
• Style/Class: Japanese Single Malt Whisky — Annual Limited Edition, Non-Chill Filtered
• Composition: 100% Malted Barley
• Cask/Aging: Vatted from mixed cask types matured in high-altitude mountain warehouses
• Series/Edition: Komagatake Limited Edition annual release
• Tasting Notes: Orchard fruit, honey, vanilla, toasted oak, rich malt, caramel, citrus zest, whisper of smoke; refined, lingering finish of soft oak and spice