MARS SHINSHU IWAI 45 WHISKEY

Vanilla and butterscotch on the nose, then milk chocolate, quince, and toffee through the mid-palate, closing with a long, sweet finish edged with stewed apple — that's what Japan's highest whisky distillery pulls off at altitude. Mars Shinshu sits above 2,600 feet in Miyada village, Nagano Prefecture, where the Hombo family moved operations in 1984 specifically for cool temperatures that slow maturation and granite-filtered snowmelt aquifers that supply the distillation water. Slow aging at elevation produces the whisky's notable smoothness and complexity. The Hombo family has been distilling since the early 20th century.