Elliot's Article: The Awakening of the World's Highest Distillery

When I met the Ryota Higashi of Hombo distillery last September at Whisky Live in Tokyo, their first new whisky in two decades had just been released. Mars Revival is a celebration of the awakening of a distillery that stopped all malt whisky production in 1992 and reopened in 2011. To be called whisky, the spirit must be aged for three years in oak barrels; so finally, after 2014, they were able to release their first dram (albeit a young one) since they started distilling again. 

Luckily for Hombo, they also make shochu and brandy among other beverages and that helped them through the slower sales period that Japanese whisky was experiencing domestically in the ‘90s and ‘00s. 

The highest distillery in the world at 798 meters above sea level, Hombo built the Mars Shinshu distillery in 1985. The name Shinshu is a reference to the original name of the prefecture Nagano where the distillery is located. Remarkably, at such a high altitude, their water source comes from a deep well that reaches down 129 meters! 

Because of this high altitude, the boiling point of water (and alcohol) is actually lower than its corresponding boiling point at sea level. As a result, making spirits at this distillery is particularly special and subtle characteristics that would be lost at sea level are preserved. The boring name for the process is atmospheric distillation, and while this is often simulated to produce industry-grade crude oil, it happens naturally right here in Miyata village at 2,600 feet! 

Mars wasn’t always produced at the base of Mount Komagatake in Nagano, however. Hombo has been producing other alcohol for over half a century and even began whisky production in 1953 on the southern island of Kyushu in Kagoshima. The Nagano distillery opened in 1985. 

As with any opportunity to meet an executive from a brewery, winery or distillery, the tasting that ensued after our initial meeting was a great chance to taste, savor and learn about whisky from (at the time) one of Japan’s lesser-known distilleries. 

Whisky Live for Tokyo is coming up again in September – as always, there will be a huge showing from the giants, Suntory and Nikka. The promotional material will be plentiful and there may even be a couple of special or limited bottles to taste. I look forward to seeing how the smaller distilleries fare this time around. Something tells me that distilleries like Mars will not be considered the little guys any more and there will be some new developments in the world of Japanese whisky. Even now, there is construction in Hokkaido for a whisky distillery and the micro craft whisky producers are coming out of the woodwork, bottling from casks that they have had for years just waiting for the right opportunity. 

Below are my notes from last year’s Mars tastings.

 

Mars ‘3 & 7’ No Age Statement Malt and Grain 

Country: Japan

Region: Nagano 

Vintage: Distilled in February 1998, Bottled in January 2009

Score: 96 Points

This is one of the great value-for-money whiskies of Japan. This whisky is named 3 & 7 for its use of three year grain and seven year malt whisky in the blend. There’s a great coconut water softness that is apparent on the nose and then carries through on the texture of the palate. There is definitely a malty, chocolaty presence and a hit of salty pretzel that brings a clean finish.

 

Mars ‘The Revival’ 3 Year-Old Single Malt Cask Strength 

Country: Japan 

Region: Nagano 

Vintage: Distilled in February 2011, Bottled in January 2014 

Score: 92 Points 

The first single malt production from Mars since 1992, The Revival displays the freshness of a young whisky. There is a peated element to the whisky that is evident with the cracked pepper and fresh moss notes on the nose. The moss stays with the whisky from start to finish. Although the finish is big, it is short, leaving the palate in a forest of peat. The mid-palate has notes of peach candy and caramel syrup, the later component definitely a reference to the high alcohol strength of the bottling.

 

Mars ‘3 plus 25’ 28 Year-Old Blend of Single Malts 

Country: Japan

Region: Nagano 

Vintage: Three-year-old malts from Kagoshima, aged for 25 years in Nagano

Score: 98 Points 

Three plus 25 was distilled at Hombo in Kagoshima in the early ‘80s before the Nagano distillery was built in 1985. Once the spirit had been aged for three years in Kagoshima, it could officially be labeled as whisky and be shipped up to Nagano for further maturation of 25 years, hence the name. This whisky has garnered international attention before but the spotlight is always brief. Now, this whisky is officially out of stock but a few bottles remain available. This dram is highly complex with notes of sweet leather, candied ginger and sansho pepper. There is always a rich berry compote element that adds a whole other dimension. Truly a rewarding dram.

 

Mars ‘Sherry and American White Oak’ 3 Year-Old Cask Strength 

Country: Japan 

Region: Nagano 

Vintage: Distilled in 2011, Bottled in 2014 

Score: 92 Points 

The second release since Mars restarted their stills is a good display of how high alcohol content brings nuance to a young whisky. At 57%, there is a creamy note that the alcohol brings which the oak has not had time to impart, where a more mature dram would have had that opportunity. That being said, the casks do make their mark with plenty of notes of Coffee Crisp candy bar and raisin brioche. There is a gentle peat throughout but nothing erring on the side of briny. On the finish, there is a small persistence of smoke and a hint of wood tannin all the while that candied berry/raisin notes stays persistent. This is a balanced dram but wanted more of the brawn that the distillery’s first release brought.

 

Mars ‘Komagatake’ 10 Year-Old Blend of Single Malts 

Country: Japan 

Region: Nagano 

Vintage: Undisclosed

Score: 91

Named for the mountain at whose base the distillery was built, Komagatake 10 Yr displays notes of strawberry jam and Asian pear with walnuts and banana bread. The walnut theme is prominent on the mid-palate and finish while there are hits of muscovado sugar too. For a while, this was the only Mars bottling I saw and now it is sought after as it has been discontinued much like many of the Japanese whisky bottlings of decades past. The good news is there is an exciting future of new bottles already here or on the way!

Contributing Editor Elliot Faber is the beverage director of two cool Japanese restaurants in Hong Kong – Yardbird and Ronin – as well as Sunday’s Grocery. He is also one of the world’s experts on sake, Japanese whisky, shochu, awamori and Japanese beer.