Prices
Prices and stock come from each retailer's website. Check with the store before you buy.
More from this distillery: All Mars whiskies and prices
About
What it is
The entry blend from Mars Whisky, named after Kiichiro Iwai, the engineer who designed Hombo Shuzo's original pot stills. Bottled at 40%. The mash bill runs heavily to corn, roughly 75%, with malted barley making up the rest, and it's matured entirely in ex-bourbon barrels.
Where it comes from
This needs care. Hombo Shuzo operates Mars Shinshu in Nagano and Mars Tsunuki in Kagoshima, and the Iwai blends are put together there. What isn't published is whether every component is distilled in Japan. The label on current bottlings reads Mars Whisky rather than Blended Japanese Whisky, which is the sort of change producers make when a product can't meet the Japan Spirits and Liqueurs Makers Association standard. We've found no producer statement either way, so treat the provenance as undisclosed rather than confirmed in either direction.
How it's made
The recipe is a deliberate nod to American whiskey: corn-led mash bill, ex-bourbon wood, nothing exotic. Mars Shinshu sits at 798 metres in Nagano, Japan's highest distillery, built in 1985, mothballed in 1992 and restarted in 2011. The still design traces back through Iwai to Masataka Taketsuru's notes from Scotland, which is a nice bit of history for a bottle this cheap.
What to expect
Light and sweet. Cinnamon and caramelised sugar on the nose, then soft fruit and something like English breakfast tea, finishing short. Neat it's thin. In a Manhattan, an Old Fashioned or a mint julep it does a genuinely good job, which is the point of it.
How it compares
Against Iwai Tradition, the mash bill flips to malt-led and the casks widen to include sherry and wine, so Tradition is the richer one. Against Suntory Toki at a similar price, Toki has published provenance and Iwai has a corn-driven profile Toki doesn't. For cocktails, Iwai is the better tool.
