Honbo Shuzo Mars Tsunuki Distillery

Kagoshima, the shochu kingdom, has received the highest rating in the world.
There is a manufacturer that makes whiskey.
The original sake produced at the distillery, which was opened at the site of the company's founding in 2008, is
While maturing in a quiet stone warehouse
I eagerly await the day when it will be released to the world.

A drop of amber born in the tropics, aiming for the world
Japanese Whisky Endures Winter and Reaches the Top of the World

　Minami-Satsuma City is home to Fukiage Beach, one of the three largest sand dunes in Japan. In 1909, the Honbo family, who had been engaged in the cotton industry in Tsunuki, a mountainous area of the city, started shochu production. Before World War II, many stone warehouses were built in the area, and even a dedicated railroad line for transporting materials and shipping was connected to the Hombo Brewery site. Most of the remaining stone warehouses were rebuilt after the war, but shochu is still stored in them, slowly developing its flavor and waiting for the right time to mature.
　It was in 1949 (Showa 24) that the Honbo Brewery began distilling whiskey, recognizing its potential. Under the guidance of Kiichiro Iwai, who discovered Masataka Taketsuru, the father of Japanese whiskey, Mars Whiskey was born. He has been passionately devoted to whisky making, faithfully following and surpassing the traditional Scotch whisky making tradition.

　In order to engage in full-scale whiskey production, Mars Whiskey moved its production base from Kagoshima to Yamanashi and Shinshu, but the abolition of the classification under the revised liquor tax law forced the company to enter a period of winter and suspend distillation for a time. However, with the highball boom that began around 2009, demand for whiskey picked up and distilling resumed. In addition, "Mars Maltese Maltage 3 Plus 25/28 Year Old" won the world's highest award at the World Whisky Awards 2013, an international whisky competition. It was a miracle that a whiskey that had endured the winter and continued to mature became the best in the world.
　In 2016, the southernmost whiskey distillery in Kyushu, the Mars Tsunuki Distillery, was completed here in Tsunuki. Whiskey distilling has resumed in Kagoshima for the first time in 32 years. The climate of Kagoshima, a tropical island, gives whisky a different flavor from that of the cooler Shinshu region. Especially in Tsunuki, there is a drastic difference in temperature between the basin and the distillery, and the flavors of the original whisky produced there will surely give a new expression to Mars Whisky.

Honbo Shuzo Mars Tsunuki Distillery