Discover the Mars Komagatake distillery
Discover the Mars Komagatake distillery
World whisky
Perched at an altitude of 798 metres within the heart of the Japanese Alps, Mars Komagatake distillery is located in the village of Miyada, in Nagano prefecture. Far from any urban bustle, the distillery can be reached from Nagoya via a regional railway line that snakes through pine forests, terraced vineyards, and the snowy peaks of the Komagatake mountains so beloved by ski enthusiasts for several decades.
The distillery was founded in 1985 by shōchū specialists Hombo Shuzo, before going into a deep slumber after the 1990s and reawakening in 2011. The soberly-designed buildings were entirely renovated in 2020, and their spectacular alpine surroundings are an invitation to both hiking and contemplation.
◊ Two ancient pot stills, displayed at the site’s entrance, serve as a reminder of a founding chapter in Mars history. Hand-hammered in Japan in the 1960s, they were designed under the supervision of Hombo Shuzo engineer Kiichiro Iwai. It was Iwai who facilitated Masataka Taketsuru’s 1918 voyage to Scotland, with the resulting technical report serving as the basis for Japan’s whisky production… and inspiring Mars’ first spirits.
◊ Before entering the nearly clinically-spotless stillhouse, visitors are asked to remove their shoes in accordance with Japanese custom. The Miyake copper stills—exact replicas of the originals—can be observed from an elevated walkway. A rare occurrence: the spirit still is bigger than the wash still, a technical decision which contributes to the unique flavour profile of Komagatake’s single malts.
◊ Komagatake’s four cellars are equipped with five levels of rail-mounted racks, an ingenious system which helps optimise the space and reduce the overall footprint. There are two other ageing sites, both located over 1,200km south of Miyada: one inside Tsunuki Distillery, which was founded in 2016 in Kagoshima Prefecture; the other on the sub- tropical island of Yakushima, where Hombo Shuzo also produces shōchū. Three sites in three dramatically different climates, allowing for myriad ageing possibilities.
◊ Within the distillery’s compound lies Minami Shinshu brewery, created in 1996 and partly owned by Hombo Shuzo. This proximity enables experimentation: some beers are matured in Mars whisky casks, while the distillery uses old beer barrels for ageing. These barrel exchanges create some unexpected flavour connections, making Mars whisky ideal for boilermakers!
◊ Shine Muscat is one of this winemaking region’s local specialities. This crisp and intensely aromatic variety was introduced into Japan in the 1980s, and has been cultivated in the Nagano region since the 2000s. Lovers of wagashi (the broad term for Japanese confectionery) will be unable to resist Shinshu Shine Muscat Daifuku, a glutinous rice mochi stuffed with candied Shine Muscat grapes.
◊ Butterfly enthusiasts will take great pleasure in walking the trails bordering the distillery and observing the colourful species which adorn the labels of the Mars Malt Le Papillon collection: common bluebottles (Graphium sarpedon), moorland clouded yellows (Colias palaeno), Reverdin’s blues (Plebejus argyrognomon), Leptidea amurensis, Chrysozephyrus brillantinus, and many more. These limited editions, illustrated by Takahide Komatsu, were inspired by the passion for lepidopterology of Hombo Shuzo’s president.
◊ A mere twenty-minute drive from the distillery lies Shirabidaira cable car, which ferries visitors to one of Japan’s largest glacial cirques in just seven minutes. Senjojiki,formed over 20,000 years ago and located at an altitude of 2,600m, is so named because its area is roughly equal to 1,000 tatami mats—the kanji characters translate literally to ‘a thousand tatami mats laid out.’
◊ Although Mars is principally renowned for its whisky, it has also produced wine since the 1960s, when Hombo Shuzo purchased Fuji Wine Co. Located roughly 80 minutes’ drive away in Yamanashi Prefecture, the vineyards of Château Mars grow varieties of both white wine grapes (koshu, chardonnay, sauvignon, viognier) and red wine grapes (syrah, merlot, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, petit verdot, and muscat Bailey A).
Mars Komagatake, Single Malt
Mars Komagatake, Single Malt
