Mars Iwai Blue Label Whiskey 750ml

Mars Shinshu operates under the Hombo family, distillers in Japan for more than a century who added whisky to their lineup in 1949. In 1984 they relocated production to the alpine village of Miyada in Nagano Prefecture, building a distillery at over 2,600 feet between the Southern and Central Alps, making it the highest whisky distillery in Japan. The Iwai name honors Kiichiro Iwai, often called the silent pioneer of Japanese whisky, who mentored Masataka Taketsuru and sent him to Scotland to study distilling before Taketsuru went on to found Nikka.

Blue Label leans into an American-inspired style, built from a mash bill of roughly 75% corn and 25% malted barley to encourage floral aromatics during fermentation. The whisky matures in ex-bourbon casks, drawing further bourbon character into the final spirit, and is produced using mineral-rich water filtered through granite. Bottled at 40% ABV, it represents Mars's original entry point into whisky making.

The nose offers carnation and orchard fruit alongside vanilla and caramel. On the palate, menthol and vanilla extract lead, layered with wet oak, bitter orange, and burnt demerara sugar. Sweet notes of pear and quince round things out, with a hint of red fruit lingering into the finish.