The Mars Shinshu Mars 2018 Cask #3723

Mars Shinshu distillery in Miyada, Nagano, owned by Hombo Shuzo, produces a clean, fruit-forward single malt at Japan's highest altitude whisky site. This single cask from the 2018 vintage, cask number 3723, was drawn from a first-fill bourbon barrel at three years and bottled at cask strength at 60% for an event release.

At three years in first-fill American oak the spirit sits in its most direct form, with the cask beginning to impart vanilla and light sweetness onto the lively, orchard-fruit character typical of Mars Shinshu's house style. The youth of the whisky is part of the appeal of an event single cask: the Miyada mountain terroir and the quality of the 2018 new make are presented without the softening effect of extended ageing.