Mars Komagatake - 8 Years 2017 Single Cask #3553

Distillery: Mars Komagatake
Name: 8 Years 2017 Single Cask #3553
Volume: 700ml
ABV: 59%
Type: Single Malt
Origin: Japan
Cask Type: Sherry Hogshead
Total Production: 236 Bottles only
Exclusively Bottled for Dram Good Stuff


Since the resumption of the Komagatake Distillery in 2011, this 8 Year Old Single Cask is one of the longest-aged single casks and has been launched to celebrate its 40th Anniversary in 2025.

Nose : Gentle hints of peat, dark fruits but will citrus as well as tropical fruit aromas. A heavy sweetness  adds to the enticing nose.

Palate : Dense mouthfeel with waves of chocolate and more tropical fruits .. a few drops of water adds more milk chocolate and bananas as the complexity of flavours keeps expanding.

Finish : Long, complex and very satisfying

Tasting note on Whisky Fun
Dram good stuff, obviously, who could possibly object to that.
Colour: golden amber.
Nose: it’s woodier, with sandalwood and balsa, also cedar, while bitter orange and marmalade gradually manage to regain control. Some absolutely lovely pink peppercorns and sweet paprika too. With water: a faint touch of metal polish and ‘old English motorbike’, how amusing!
Mouth (neat): superb, taut, packed with oranges of all kinds and peppers. It’s simple, effective, almost elementary, yet magnificent. Provided you like bitter orange and pepper, naturally, indeed the pepperiness even starts tickling your lips. I promise.
With water: cedarwood, rosewood, sandalwood, even a little gewurztraminer, all rather unexpected, but not detrimental in the slightest, quite the opposite.
Finish: long but a little rougher, with a slight touch of green tannins, melon skin, not-quite-ripe fig… But there’s plenty of charm in all that. Grapefruit comes along to restore order in the aftertaste.
Comments: less easy-going but fascinating to follow in your glass. Anyway, there hasn’t been anything interesting on television for ages. Who still watches telly these days, apart from best buddies DJT and VVP?
SGP:551 - 88 points.

*image for reference only