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| I am just now seeing the Text label near Niigata. LOL, I’m leaving it there. |
A stomach virus kept me off the sauce for a week, but that's behind me now. 😅
During last year's vacation, I learned that La Maison du Whisky has cornered the Parisian whisky retail market. To avoid all FOMO, you should visit all three of LMDW's excellent brick-and-mortar shops in the city, as each store has a slightly different inventory.
Because France doesn't have the same wacky liquor laws as the US, La Maison also acts as an importer, especially of Japanese whiskies. Back in 2022, LMDW brought in three single first-fill ex-bourbon casks of Komagatake (Shinshu Distillery) single malt, each of which was matured at one of the three Mars locations: Shinshu (mountains), Tsunuki (coast), and Yakushima (tropical island). Today I'm going to try them side-by-side to see how, or if, the aging process is influenced by the warehouse locales.
Komagatake Kyōdai
| Komagatake 5-year-old 2016 cask 3705, Shinshu-aged 61%abv | Komagatake 5-year-old 2016 cask 5183, Tsunuki-aged 60%abv | Komagatake 5-year-old 2016 cask 2063, Yakushima-aged 61%abv |
|---|---|---|
| The nose starts off with apples, malt, vanilla, and paint thinner, with caramel, white peaches, and white dessert wine arriving later. Once diluted to 50%abv, the whisky shifts toward mint, anise, sugar cookies, and cherry candy in the nose. | Ah, some real fruit in this nose! Mango juice, orange peel, and orange blossoms up front. Cinnamon, glue, and chlorophyl settle into the background. The nose gets leaner once the whisky is diluted to 50%abv. It's all barley, yeast, peat, burlap, cinnamon, and clove. | Another pretty nose, with sugar cookies, orange peels, rosewater and lemon candies appearing in the first 20-30 minutes. Vanilla bean, almond extract, and toasted oak emerge later on. At 50%abv, the whisky's nose offers up apricots, apples, confectioner's sugar, and a hint of brine. |
| The hot and sweet palate offers cherry-flavored children's medicine, honey and clementines in the foreground, barley and cocoa in the middle, ash in the distance. The palate is so very, very sweet at the 50%abv mark, mostly lemon candy, simple syrup, and milk chocolate. | Surprising peaty notes hit the palate first, followed by limes, tart apples, tart cherries, and bitter citrus pith. At 50%abv, there's less peat and sugar, but lots of tart and bitter citrus. | Mild smoke and bitterness moderate the palate's sweetness. Cloves, almond extract, and lemons stick around the longest. It's moderately sweet with salty smoke, lemon blossoms, and clementines at 50%abv. |
| The finish is VERY sweet, like dessert wine, lemon candy, simple syrup, and milk chocolate. At 50%abv, the finish is tangier and more acidic. A few marshmallows appear after the final sips. | No peat in the finish, so the sweetness runs wild, especially in notes of sweet apples and lemon candy. After the whisky is diluted to 50%abv, the sweetness calms down. Oranges, limes, and menthol linger a bit. | The finish is smoky and rosy, with a hint of cherry bubblegum. It gets saltier with time. A Yoichi-like delicate smoke mixes with sweet citrus in the diluted finish. |
| Comments: This cask reads the youngest out of the three, perhaps due to its warehouse's cooler temperatures. The whisky is a bit too sweet for my palate, but it's quite decent overall. This would have been a much more interesting whisky at 10-12 its age. | Comments: The peaty notes give this whisky more complexity than the Shinshu while occasionally toning down some of the sweetness. And, as always, I'm fan of all the fruit notes. Other than perhaps the citrus and sugar, very little ties this cask to the Shinshu one. | Comments: This Yakushima cask was the winner throughout the whole tasting, especially since its finish stuck the landing after every sip. Salt + light smoke + citrus = Yes. I hope they'll leave some of these Yakushima casks to snooze until they're 10 years old, because could be outstanding. |
| Rating: 80 | Rating: 84 | Rating: 86 |
WORDS WORDS WORDS
After being disappointed by a pair of disappointing Komagatake malts, I was happily reminded that Mars produces some very good whiskies. As noted above, I believe that all three of these casks would have benefited from more maturation time, but at least two of them are quite nice at 5 years. Considering the salt and peat levels on the second (better) two, can one really be sure all three casks held the same spirit? (I'm just seeing now, per Serge's notes, that these did not hold the same spirit. This trio makes less sense now.) A bit burned out by these baby Mars whiskies, I will switch to a different small whisky brand (not Chichibu, sorry) for this month's final Japanese booze reviews.
