Mars, Cosmo
Mars was founded by shōchū producer Kiichiro Iwai. The whiskeys are produced in two distilleries: one, Shinshu, founded in 1985, the other, Tsunuki, built in 2016. Distilled in the second, Cosmo is a pleasant blend of malts. It’s very direct, with a nice length on the palate, notes of exotic fruits and a buttery side too. From this planet Mars, we also love the Yakushima Japanese Spring (€149). Yakushima is the name of the island, south of Kagoshima, whose magnificent natural settings inspired Hayao Miyazaki to Princess Mononoke (1997) and where this blend, from the brand’s two distilleries, was aged mainly in bourbon barrels. It offers a complex nose, amber in color and, something unusual in Japanese whiskeys, a slight trace of peat.
€56.90.
Togouchi, pure malt
Founded in 1918, the Chugoku Jozo brewery in Hatsukaichi, near Hiroshima, initially produced sake. Then came shōchū and, in 1938, the whiskey era. In 2018, Chugoku Jozo, fifth generation, opened the Sakurao distillery, on the original site, with a winery hidden in the tunnel of an old abandoned railway line: the constant temperature allows for patient maturation. Today, Togouchi offers a good range, including this single malt aged for three years in bourbon and sherry casks. On the nose, vanilla and orange jam, then, on the palate, spices, a touch of coconut for a finish where ginger makes a pleasant appearance. Very precise and delicate. At Togouchi we also like the Kiwami (€49.90), very vegetal, with a touch of dried fruits, or the Saké Cask Finish (€55), which gives prominence, in the mouth, to the woody spices and vanilla aromas. .
€65.
Nikka, from the barrel
Launched in 1985, the best seller from the emblematic house that originated the international craze for Japanese whiskeys offers impressive power in the mouth, without being aggressive. Concentrated, it seduces with its length. A favorite of this whiskey that deserves its iconic status. In the great Nikka family, it is also worth mentioning the Coffey Grain (€58) – Coffey, which gets its name from these old stills that offer fatter textures –, a whiskey for those with a sweet tooth. Or the Yoichi single malt (€75), made in the brand’s historic distillery created in 1934, with citrus and slightly peaty aromas. There is also the little brother, the Miyagikyo single malt (€75), named after the second Nikka distillery: elegant, fruity and sweet, with aromas of very ripe fruit due to aging partly in sherry casks.
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