Mars Tsunuki 2018 (LMDW)

Distilled at Tsunuki in 2018 and bottled in 2023 at 5 Years Old, this is a single cask single malt selected by La Maison du Whisky for the French market at cask strength. Tsunuki is Hombo Shuzo's Kagoshima distillery on the southern tip of Kyushu, where the warm and humid climate creates a fast and richly flavoured maturation environment that gives sherry-aged spirit particular intensity at relatively young ages.

The cask is an Oloroso sherry hogshead, the larger volume offering a slightly softer wood interaction than a standard barrel while still delivering the dark fruit, chocolate and dried fig character associated with Oloroso maturation. Five years in Kagoshima's heat amplifies those darker notes. Where specific tasting data is not listed, the expected profile from an Oloroso hogshead at this age in Tsunuki's climate shows raisin, walnut and cocoa alongside the distillery's baseline citric and tropical character. At 60% cask strength, the sherry influence is concentrated and direct.