Mars Tsunuki 2017 (LMDW)

Distilled at Tsunuki in 2017 and bottled in 2021 at 4 Years Old, this is a single cask single malt selected by La Maison du Whisky as an event release at cask strength. Tsunuki is Hombo Shuzo's Kagoshima distillery on the southern tip of Kyushu, where the subtropical climate gives maturing whisky an energetic and warm character from an early age.

The cask is a first fill bourbon barrel, providing its most active layer of vanilla and wood sweetness to the spirit over four years in the Kagoshima heat. The flavour profile here pulls in a distinct direction from many first fill bourbon examples: fresh fruit and hay lead, with a mossy, earthy note suggesting the distillery's character is asserting itself through the wood. At 60%, the spirit is full and vivid, the cask strength amplifying both the orchard freshness and that herbal, grassy undercurrent that marks this particular barrel. A characterful and individual example from Tsunuki's 2017 vintage.