I bought my first bottle of Mars Whisky on my first trip to Japan. That trip, as you my have read on my about page, was the first time I had tasted Japanese whisky of any kind. I certainly had not heard of this brand, then again, I had not heard of Karuizawa, Hanyu, Akashi or many of the long since closed Japanese distilleries either. Can’t say I was particularly impressed by that first bottle of Mars Whisky either. Still, with such a cool name, at least to me, that was not going to stop me trying more of this intriguing little distilleries offerings.
Now I would never think that a company with such a relatively small whisky output would not bottle some average(or worse) stuff. What has really amazed me about Mars though, is that when they get it right, they produce whisky that is the equal of any other distillery in Japan. Check out my Full Tasted List and you’ll see what a relatively high percentage of Gold Medal ratings I have given to Mars whisky compared to how many I’ve tasted so far. The Achilles heel has been most of their sherry cask offerings that have had ‘dirty sherry'(sulphur) issues. They are not alone in this respect as so does Hanyu and Karuizawa. In contrast, after tasting all their new pot peated whisky, this stuff has future legend written all over it once it has fully matured.
The other great thing about Mars whisky for myself is that it is still a relative secret outside of Japan. So, as the rest of the world hangs on every new release of overpriced, mostly overrated Karuizawa, Mars whisky remains a unique and still rare pleasure for those who have access them. Selfishly, I hope it remains so for a little while longer at least.