The Mars Shinshu Mars 2012 Cask #1490

The Mars 2012 Cask 1490 is a single cask single malt from Mars Shinshu, the Hombo Shuzo distillery at Miyada in the Central Alps of Nagano, distilled a year into the site's 2011 revival and bottled after three years in a bourbon cask. It is among the youngest official single cask expressions from the restarted distillery, offered globally at natural cask strength.

Bottled at 61% without reduction, the whisky draws entirely on bourbon cask maturation for its character. Three years in active American oak at high altitude will have delivered strong wood influence relative to the spirit's age, and the clean, mountain-influenced new make from Nagano provides the base. In the absence of specific flavour data, the profile is expected to show vanilla, new wood, light cereal and the distinct freshness associated with Mars Shinshu's cool, alpine maturation environment.