The Mars Shinshu Mars 2011

The Mars 2011 bottled in 2014 is a three year old single malt from Mars Shinshu, one of the earliest releases from Hombo Shuzo's Nagano distillery following its 2011 revival. Distilled in the first year of renewed production, the whisky captures the character of that initial run, honest about its youth and offered globally as a cask strength statement of where the house was starting from.

Matured in Ex-Bourbon casks and bottled at 58% without dilution, the 2011 vintage shows the leathery, new wood character expected of a young spirit in active oak. The elevated ABV amplifies the raw cereal and resinous wood notes typical of the house's early distillate, and at three years the spirit is assertive rather than integrated. It is a document of beginnings as much as a finished whisky.