Iwai Mars Whisky

Mars Whisky's Komagatake Distillery sits at 800 meters in Miyada Village in Nagano Prefecture — Japan's highest whisky distillery, perched between the North and South Alps and cooled by soft, granite-filtered snowmelt water. Named for Kiichiro Iwai, the visionary engineer who drew up Japan's first whisky distillery blueprints and is considered a silent pioneer of the industry, Iwai Tradition is the flagship blended expression: 70% very lightly peated malted barley (just 3.5 PPM) and 30% corn, distilled in copper pot stills and aged primarily in ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks. Non-chill filtered at 40% ABV, it delivers ripe cherry, honey toffee, dark chocolate, black tea, and a lingering ginger spice. Approachable and compelling — excellent neat, with a splash of water, or in a Japanese highball.