Mars-Japanese Whisky

Mars Shinshu, the highest whiskey distillery in Japan, sits between the towering Southern Alps and the mighty Central Alps at an elevation of just over 2,600 feet. The Hombo family have been distilling for more than a century and added whiskey to their repertoire in 1949. At that time, the distillery was in the Tsunuki region of Kagoshima Prefecture on the southernmost island of Kyushu.

In 2016, Hombo Shuzo reopened its first distillery site in Kagoshima, now known as Mars Tsunuki Distillery, Japan's southernmost distillery, and introduced new stills. In addition, a maturation facility was built on the tiny island of Yakushima, which is a national World Heritage Site, and is now used to mature the spirits of the two distilleries, Shinshu and Tsunuki.