USA SHIPPING FROM $28
EU SHIPPING FROM €16
USA SHIPPING FROM $28
EU SHIPPING FROM €16
$250
Bottled for Europe in 2020 and drawn straight from bourbon barrels at 53% cask strength, this NAS Mars Shinshu single malt spent part of its life in the tropical heat of Yakushima, producing a citric, hay-edged dram with an intriguing coal-gas mineral note beneath the surface.
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Description
Mars Shinshu distillery sits in the Japanese Alps of Nagano, operated by Hombo Shuzo and known for its clean, altitude-cooled spirit. This European market release is part of the Yakushima Aging series, in which Mars Shinshu new make is transferred to Yakushima island off Kagoshima for a portion of its maturation. The subtropical climate there, warm year-round with high humidity, puts the spirit through a much faster wood interaction than the Alps would allow, producing a depth unusual for a NAS expression.
Ex-Bourbon barrels, specifically bourbon barrel wood, are the sole maturation vessel here, contributing vanilla, coconut and a light cereal sweetness as the base. Over the Yakushima humidity, those notes are pushed forward and flanked by sharp citrus and a distinctive hay-like grassiness with a coal-gas mineral edge that marks out this 2020 bottling in particular. At 53% and bottled at cask strength, it is direct and uncut, with the Nagano house character, precise and clean, underlying the tropical wood influence throughout.
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