Seems like we’re going on a short world tour of Whisky. Last week I’ve tasted 3 Canadian whiskies and now we move on to Japan.

My parents went on a trip to Japan 2 months ago and I jumped all over this opportunity and with the help of Stefan from Tokyo Whisky Hub I’ve managed to purchase some bottles to be delivered to my parents in Tokyo (Thanks again Stefan!).

I’ll review this week 2 of those bottles and we’ll start with Mars Maltage ‘KOMAGATAKE’ 10 yo.

This whisky is produced in one the least-known single malt producer in japan – Mars distillery. The distillery is located at Miyata village in Nagano. The village resides 800m above sea level, and the water used to produce the whisky passes through granite rock and is high in natural minerals.

I’ve used this whisky as the blind dram I sent out in the #TheDramOGram twitter tasting event. Poor Danny didn’t have a chance 🙂

So how does it taste?

Mars Maltage ‘KOMAGATAKE’ (10 yo, 40% ABV, 4,500 yen – around $35)

Nose: Initial burst alcohol but then becomes gentle, strong fruity notes – pears, peach, apricots, red berries. Vanilla and some oak wood. It’s fruit sweet but also have a strong undercurrent of spices and weak metal note

Palate: Much less fruity and less gentle then the nose – it starts with strong wood, malt and slight vanilla notes, some of it dissipate and spices comes to the front. Barely fruits showing here and that’s a pity.

finish: Medium length. Malt and spices stays for quite a while.

Conclusion: Not a bad single malt. Too bad that’s the lovely fruity notes on the nose didn’t follow through to the palate but overall it’s nice evening dram on spring/autumn day.