Mars Komagatake Nature of Shinshu Shinanotanpopo Vol.52% Cl.70

The third version of Mars Shinshu's Nature of Shinshu range is the Japanese single malt whiskey Shinanotanpopo,

of the Hombo Shuzo Ltd distillery which is an old Japanese liquor company, founded in 1872.

Traditionally they were producers of "shochu", but in 1985 they built the Shinshu Mars Distillery in the village of Miyata, to start producing whiskey and brandy.

The whiskey was sold under the Mars Whiskey brand.

Unfortunately the demand was not great enough and they stopped whiskey production in 1992.

Then, in February 2011, whiskey production was restarted at the Shinshu Mars distillery.

On August 6, 2014, Hombo Shuzo finally launched the first whiskey produced by the reboot, the Mars single malt whiskey The Revival 2011 Komagatake.

Now they present an interesting new limited edition: the single malt Mars Komagatake Nature of Shinshu Shinanotanpopo.

The third version of Mars Shinshu's Nature of Shinshu range is the Japanese single malt Shinanotanpopo whiskey, which was produced by combining a well aged whiskey from their warehouses with a much younger whiskey.

"Shinanotanpopo", for the curious, means "dandelion flower".

The limited availability and high quality of Mars Komagatake Nature of Shinshu Shinanotanpopo make this Japanese whiskey highly sought after by collectors all over the world.

Tasting Notes:

Perfumes: powerful nose, welcomes with fruity notes of currant and plum, toasted tones of hazelnut and sweet spicy vanilla, all in an earthy background

Taste: Mars Komagatake Nature of Shinshu Shinanotanpopo single cask Japanese whiskey on the palate is soft, enveloping and round, with a succession of citrus fruits, cocoa and caramel, with a long persistence halfway between cereals and oak.

Mars Komagatake Nature of Shinshu Shinanotanpopo single cask Japanese whiskey is great accompanied by a Toscano Millenium or a robust Drew Estate cigar.

The whiskey is still young and will certainly get better with age, but it's a good indication of what's to come.