Mars Y.A. Bakemono Double Cask 2009/2283 #06 Nobusuma
Limited edition pure malt Japanese whisky distilled at Komagatake Distillery (fka Mars Shinshu) in Nagano and Tsunuki Distillery in Kagoshima, and matured at the Mars Yakushima Aging Cellar on Yakushima Island, Japan • The 6th release in the Mars Bakemono series, which highlights illustrations from the famous Bakemono Zukushi “Monster” Scroll, an illustrated text (emaki) from Japan’s Edo Period (17th–19th centuries) by an unknown artist featuring various yōkai (magical creatures from Japanese folklore) • Vatting of Cask #2009 and #2283 distilled at Mars Komagatake and Mars Tsunuki distilleries • 100% malted barley lightly peated to an average of 3.5 ppm and twice distilled in copper pot stills • Aged 5–6 years in separate ex-bourbon barrels at the Mars Yakushima Aging Cellar before blending and bottling; distilled in March 2018 and April 2019 and bottled in May 2024 • Non-chill filtered; 55% ABV
The sixth release in Mars’s Bakemono series, and the second that was matured at the Yakushima Aging Cellar (denoted by the initials “Y.A.”), this pure malt vatting depicts Nobusuma, a bat- or flying-squirrel-like creature that inhabits forests and is thought to be a tanuki, or shape-shifting creature. Though many tanuki were depicted as comical after the Edo Period, they were originally thought to be quite sinister; the Nobusuma, for instance, is known for attacking travelers’ faces and sucking their blood. No matter the intentions of this tanuki, it makes a compelling mascot for a blend that also embraces multiplicity, combining distillate produced by two separate master distillers in Nagano and Kagoshima before being matured and blended on Yakushima Island, a UNESCO Heritage Site where constant rainfall and subtropical temperatures place their own stamp on the whiskies of Mars.