MARS THE Y.A. #5

Volume: 0.7 litres | Alcohol content: 49% | Chill filtration: No

Special Features:

Maturation on Yakushima brings together malts from two Japanese distilleries in this bottling. MARS The Y.A. #05 blends whiskies from Komagatake and Tsunuki that have matured at the Mars Yakushima Aging Cellar. Y.A. stands for Yakushima Aging. The whiskies mature predominantly in ex-bourbon barrels and spend more than four years on this rainy, subtropical island.

The fifth edition was released in 2026 with an outturn of 9,000 bottles. Its sweetish aroma and gentle smoke are accompanied by a delicate saltiness and a juicy, fruity finish. The whisky is bottled without chill filtration at 49% in a 0.7-litre bottle and comes in a gift box.

Tasting Notes:

• Nose: On the nose, grilled apricot notes meet a delicate hint of smoke.
• Palate: Juicy citrus notes reminiscent of satsuma mandarins unfold on the palate.
• Finish: Ripe yellow fruits mingle with sea salt on the finish.

Distillery/Bottler:

Behind MARS is Hombo Shuzo Co., Ltd., whose whisky history began in Kagoshima in 1949. Kiichiro Iwai helped establish production as a technical adviser. In 1985, the company opened the Shinshu distillery at the foot of Komagatake in Nagano, at an altitude of 798 metres. Following a long period of closure, distillation resumed in 2011; the distillery has been known as Mars Komagatake Distillery since 2024.

Tsunuki became the company's second malt distillery in 2016, at its original home in Kagoshima. It lies in a basin surrounded by mountains, with hot summers and winters that are particularly cold for the region. The maturation warehouse on Yakushima was completed that same year. This allows Hombo Shuzo to combine distillation in Nagano and Kagoshima with separate maturation on the island—the idea behind the Y.A. series introduced later.

Facts: