Mars Tsunuki & The Akkeshi Malt Duo Blended Malt – Tsunuki Aging

Hombo Shuzo, the company behind Mars Distillery, produces many different styles of alcohol, starting with shochu in the early 1900s. They really started producing whisky in 1949 with the help of Mr. Kiichiro Iwai, an icon in the Japanese Whisky world. Shinshu is the main distillery which is in the Nagano Alps and Japan’s highest whisky distillery. The second is the Tsunuki distillery in Kagoshima, an island in the south of Japan. This distillery was founded in 2016.

Akkeshi Distillery was established in 2016 in the city of Akkeshi on the northern island of Hokkaido, Japan. Located in a cool, moist climate with frequent rolling sea fog coming off the marshes of the Bekan-Beushi wetlands, the distillery is situated in an environment similar to the Islay region of Scotland. With six stainless steel washbacks, water sourced directly from the pristine Homakai River, three aging warehouses (including one located on the Akkeshi Bay), and a wide variety of aging casks—from bourbon and sherry to Japanese Mizunara white oak—Akkeshi’s limited release whiskies speak to the traditions of Islay Scotch with a distinctly Akkeshi interpretation of Northeast Japan’s terroir.