Mars

Since opening in 2016, the Tsunuki Distillery has been garnering plenty of attention and snatching down awards for their incredible Japanese Single Malts. The Tsunuki 2024 is now the 5th main release coming from the distillery and continues to refine the deep, expressive flavor that they have become known for. This edition marks the first inclusion Virgin Spanish Oak casks as the primary maturation vessel. Supported by ex-bourbon barrels, as well as sherry casks, this latest edition yields beautifully complex aromatics of strawberry jam, orange leather, and red bean pastry. Classic Tsunuki flavors of bitter chocolate, black tea, and pastry cream are complimented with fresh notes of blackberries and juicy oranges. The brilliant finish is full of bittersweet cocoa, camp smoke, and lemon peels.

Limited edition pure malt Japanese whisky distilled at Komagatake Distillery (fka Mars Shinshu) in Nagano and Tsunuki Distillery in Kagoshima, and matured at the Mars Yakushima Aging Cellar on Yakushima Island, Japan
The 6th release in the Mars Bakemono series, which highlights illustrations from the famous Bakemono Zukushi “Monster” Scroll, an illustrated text (emaki) from Japan’s Edo Period (17th–19th centuries) by an unknown artist featuring various yōkai (magical creatures from Japanese folklore)
Vatting of Cask #2009 and #2283 distilled at Mars Komagatake and Mars Tsunuki distilleries
100% malted barley lightly peated to an average of 3.5 ppm and twice distilled in copper pot stills
Aged 5–6 years in separate ex-bourbon barrels at the Mars Yakushima Aging Cellar before blending and bottling; distilled in March 2018 and April 2019 and bottled in May 2024
Non-chill filtered; 55% ABV
The sixth release in Mars’s Bakemono series, and the second that was matured at the Yakushima Aging Cellar (denoted by the initials “Y.A.”), this pure malt vatting depicts Nobusuma, a bat- or flying-squirrel-like creature that inhabits forests and is thought to be a tanuki, or shape-shifting creature. Though many tanuki were depicted as comical after the Edo Period, they were originally thought to be quite sinister; the Nobusuma, for instance, is known for attacking travelers’ faces and sucking their blood. No matter the intentions of this tanuki, it makes a compelling mascot for a blend that also represents multiple concepts, combining distillate produced by two separate master distillers in Nagano and Kagoshima before being matured and blended on Yakushima Island, a UNESCO Heritage Site where constant rainfall and subtropical temperatures place their own stamp on the whiskies of Mars.

Limited edition single cask single malt Japanese whisky produced at Mars Tsunuki Distillery in Kagoshima, Japan
The 5th release in the Mars Bakemono series, which highlights illustrations from the famous Bakemono Zukushi “Monster” Scroll, an illustrated text (emaki) from Japan’s Edo Period (17th–19th centuries) by an unknown artist featuring various yōkai (magical creatures from Japanese folklore)
Cask #T719
100% malted barley peated to 50 ppm and twice distilled in copper pot stills
Aged 5 years 11 months in an unspecified ex-sherry hogshead; distilled in June 2018 and bottled in May 2024
No added coloring
Non-chill filtered; 60% ABV
This is the fifth release in Mars’s Bakemono series and the second to come from the Mars Tsunuki Distillery in southern Kagoshima. It depicts a creeping old man named Mi-no-kedachi, or “standing up body hair.” This unsettling, hunched grandpa is theorized to be a spirit of fear or fret. Best shake off the shivers with a dram of full-bodied, peated whisky.

Crafted in Japan's highest whisky distillery, this limited 2022 release features a delicate balance of orchard fruits, malt sweetness, and a whisper of smoke—elegant and refined.

The Bakemono Zukushi, or "Monster Scroll" can be traced to Japan's Edo period in the 18th or 19th century. The scroll depicts an array of Japanese yokai (spirits) who are taken from the country's local folk lore. The fourth edition of this series features a single unpeated New American Oak hogshead cask from the Komagatake Distillery in Nagano that depicts the large snakelike creature Sarahebi. Also known as a "Nure-onna" not much is known about these mysterious spirits who were thought to come from the sea and rivers.

Limited-edition, single cask single malt Japanese whisky produced at Mars Tsunuki Distillery in Kagoshima, Japan Selected by Tokiwa Imports as a US-exclusive release Cask #T1185; the 2nd cask in the Mars Bakemono Series (released 2023) 100% malted barley, lightly peated (average 3.5 ppm) Aged a minimum of 4 years; distilled in April 2019 and bottled in June 2023 Aged exclusively in an ex-bourbon barrel

Cask #2 in the Bakemono Zukushi “Monster” Scroll-inspired series depicts Daichiuchi, the earthquake maker! This mohawked monster has a bird-like face and wields a mallet—a forceful creature that makes a fitting mascot for this robust, peaty single cask whisky distilled at Mars Tsunuki.

Tasting Notes,

Nose: A creamy nose of tapioca pudding and French vanilla

Palate: Dehydrated green apple, pear flesh, and spikes of peat with a long finish of salted pastry crust, black-pepper-encrusted charcuterie, and extinguished campfire