Mars whisky carries a long tradition of spirits production. The family-run Hombo Shuzo Co. was founded in 1872 in Kagoshima, in the very south of Japan, to produce Shochu, a traditional Japanese brandy. In early 1950, the company decided to start distilling whisky to broaden its product portfolio. However, the first batches were not distilled until ten years later, in the new buildings of a distillery constructed in Yamanashi prefecture, in the center of the main island of Honshu. This site was only used for a few years, before the production facilities were moved again. New headquarters: the Shinshu distillery, near Nagano, where Mars brand whisky was first produced in 1985.

Japan's highest-altitude whisky distillery was forced to close its doors only a few years later, however. Hombo Shuzo Co. waited for the development of interest in Japanese whisky and its growing popularity to renovate the production site. Since 2011, Mars whisky casks have once again been filled at the Shinshu distillery.

Since 2016, the company has also been distilling at a second site. A distillery modelled on the Shinshu distillery has been built on the Hombo Shuzo Co. group's historic production site in Kagoshima. We look forward to discovering the whiskies with which this distillery will enrich our assortment in the coming years.