Welcome back to another excellent tasting of two whiskies [it’s Japanese blended malts today], where I get to sip them side-by-side, compare the slight differences between them, take down these notes in real-time, then pick a favourite, and hopefully learn something new along the way. If you’re too impatient to find out the winner, you can just scroll to the very bottom of this post. Alas, as I write these words, I still don’t know. So, I invite you to come along on this journey! Up for a tasting today is the 4th dram from the Japanese Whisky Advent Calendar (2021 Edition), which I haven’t been going through as I have been with the Cask Explorer‘s series (you can find these posts under the FEATURE section on the left-hand menu). I’m pretty excited about this one because it’s been some time since I’ve re-visited a Japanese whisky and because, well, I think it’s a fantastic pairing. So, let’s get to it, shall we? But first, we need music! Now playing: Ryuichi Sakamoto – async.

I said I was tasting the 4th dram, but I didn’t call it out by name. That being said, from the subject of this write-up, you should be able to deduce the first contender, and it’s Mars Maltage “Cosmo” from the Mars Shinshu distillery, founded in 1985, located in the Miyada village in Nagano Prefecture. The distillery was mothballed from 1992 to 2011, but it is pretty active again, producing whisky bottled under the Mars label, as well as The Lucky Cat, The YA, and Iwai. A significant contribution to its whisky-making approach came from Kiichiro Iwai, the founder of Mars Whisky, who specialised in shochu in the early days of the distillery. It was he who sent the revered Masataka Taketsuru to Scotland to learn more about the whisky-making art. But back to the Cosmo. This is a blended malt (so no grain whiskies in it) bottled at 43% ABV, and yes, it’s [probably] coloured and [definitely] chill-filtered. No surprises here. I will pair it with the Taketsuru Pure Malt from the Nikka distillery, which has appeared on these pages many times when I compared it next to Nikka Pure Malt Red and The Nikka Tailored. So, I’ll skip the introductions of the latter and jump straight to the tastings to see what we can find. The Taketsuru Pure Malt is also bottled at 43%, and it’s also coloured and chill-filtered. And yes, it’s also a blended (vatted) malt. I think they even cost the same. So now you understand why this is a fantastic pairing. First, let’s take a closer look (?) at the nose. The Cosmo is definitely “malty” – sweet vanilla cream puff, light caramel, and honey come to the forefront. I sense no smoke in it at all. The Taketsuru is sharper and lighter on the nose. A bit more bananas here than caramel, and it’s not as full, warm, and welcoming as the Cosmo appears to be. There may be just a slight hint of smoke.

Let’s go in for a taste! The Cosmo is indeed round and sweet, but now there is plenty of oakiness on the palate. It has a nice medium-length finish with a lovely [slightly bitter in a good way] bite, leaving behind its memorable presence. That was a good opening move. Let’s see what the Taketsuru has to say about that. It’s lighter, fresher, livelier – there is not much woodiness here as I sensed in the Cosmo, and with that, it lacks the oaky bitterness. The finish is slightly shorter and drier – it felt like the Cosmo was a little oiler than the Taketsuru. Let’s go for it again. Yes, the Cosmo is sweeter, rounder and fuller [words I’ve used before?] than the Taketsuru. I like the “old-world” maltiness in it, reminding me of whiskies I’ve tasted from the 80s [with that interesting “cardboard” flavour if you know what I mean – again, totally in a good way], and it’s more textured with umami. I like the Taketsuru here as well – because it feels refreshing, slightly zesty, and clean. This one is for the summer, while the other’s for the colder days, do you get the atmosphere? The finish could be longer on the Taketsuru, and it feels a little younger and more energetic. Let’s see if we can know what that is. The Taketsuru is a blend of Yoichi and Miyagikyo, both located on the northern side of Japan (with Yoichi in Hokkaido!), while Mars Shinshu is somewhat central in the “Japanese Alps”. Neither one disclosed the age of the whiskies, but I think the Cosmo has a few tricks up its sleeve. One of them is the fact that it contains an actual Scotch in the mix (see details), unlike the Taketsuru, which all of the criteria of “Japanese whisky”, as defined by the Japan Spirits & Liqueur Makers Association. I’ll go and taste them in reverse this time for the final round, and then we’ll pause here. I took a nice swig of the Taketsuru, and now it hit all of the familiar Japanese whisky notes. And yes, the Cosmo now has come in much darker, maltier, sweeter, and… okay, it’s time to call a winner.

Name / Style	Mars Maltage “Cosmo” / Japanese Vatted Malt	Taketsuru Pure Malt / Japanese Vatted Malt
Distillery / Region	Mars Shinshu	Yoichi and Miyagikyo / Japan
Producer	Hombo Shuzo Co.	Nikka
Bottler / Series	Distillery bottling / Malt Selection	Distillery bottling / core range
Stated Age	NAS	NAS
Cask type	Undisclosed	Undisclosed
ABV / Cask Strength	43.0 / No	43.0 / No
Non-chill filtered/ Uncoloured	No / No	No / No
Price	£62	£62
Did it win? / Did I like it?	Yes / Yes – excellent!	No / Yes
Would I buy it? / Recommend it?	Yes / Yes	Yes / Yes

So there you have it, folks. Another fascinating tasting. I didn’t know what to expect, but then, having expectations is a path to disappointment, is it not? I want to take a detour here and pay respects to the late Ryuichi Sakamoto, whom I have met on a few occasions in person. I picked async to play because, well, I thought, why not listen to my favourite Japanese composer while sipping on the Japanese whisky? But to be honest, it was hard to know that he’s no longer among us, that he’d no longer write more music, and that he’d no longer taste this life. So, here’s to you, Sakamoto-san. I drink this, and I think of you, my friend. And with that said, I will proclaim Mars Maltage “Cosmo” as the winner of this round. Till next time! And if you like this type of content, you know what to do!