Komagatake gets a limited-edition single malt: peat meets sherry

Hombo Shuzo, headquartered in Kagoshima, has announced that its Mars Komagatake Distillery in Nagano Prefecture will release “Single Malt Komagatake Peated × Sherry” in limited quantities. It is the first in a limited series that shows a different side of the standard “Single Malt Komagatake”, which appeared in 2025. Smoky peat and sweet, rich sherry casks: the interest lies in how a distillery in the Japanese mountains has combined two characters that are familiar to whisky fans in Europe.

A distillery at the foot of the Central Alps

Mars Komagatake Distillery opened in 1985 in Miyada, Nagano Prefecture. Miyada is a mountain village west of Tokyo, at the foot of Mount Kiso-Komagatake in the Central Alps, one of the Japanese Alps. Blessed with a cool climate and good-quality brewing water, the distillery matures its spirit in a quiet setting surrounded by forest. Hombo Shuzo’s whisky-making goes back to 1949 in Kagoshima. In 1960 it began full-scale production in Yamanashi, under the design and guidance of Kiichiro Iwai, an engineer whose name is written into the history of Japanese whisky, and Komagatake Distillery was built using that equipment moved from Yamanashi. When demand for whisky slumped, distillation of malt spirit was suspended, but it resumed in 2011. In 2016 the company opened Mars Tsunuki Distillery in Minamisatsuma, Kagoshima Prefecture, and a cask warehouse on Yakushima, and it now has two distilleries and three storage facilities.

Peat smoke and the sweetness of sherry casks

This limited release is made from spirit distilled from peated malt (malt dried over peat smoke) at the distillery and matured in sherry casks. On the nose, peat sits over orange peel and honey, and on the palate the sweetness from the sherry casks spreads out. There is also a deep bitterness reminiscent of dark fruit and cacao, and it is said to finish with an elegant, white-smoke-like aftertaste. The strength is 50% ABV, higher than the standard bottling (45%). It comes in 700ml bottles, limited to 12,000, with a suggested retail price in Japan of 9,900 yen including tax. The label depicts the Japanese serow, Nagano’s prefectural animal, and the nature around the distillery, using dawn-like colours to express “another expression”.

How to enjoy it in Europe

The announcement makes no mention of overseas sales, and with so few bottles, anyone in Europe hoping to get hold of one will need to check stock with specialist Japanese whisky retailers and importers. If you do find a bottle, start neat. Notice how the orange peel and the peat smoke come together, then add a few drops of water and compare how the sweetness of the sherry cask opens up. If you are used to Scottish peated malts matured in sherry casks, tasting them side by side may reveal a cleanness typical of a cool mountain distillery. With its cacao-like bitterness, it also looks like a good partner for dark chocolate.