Mars Shinshu

Hombo Shuzo Co. is a small producer of alcoholic beverages with a whisky distillery in Shinshu. This distillery was opened in 1985 in order to produce a whisky with special Japanese characteristics. Hombo selected an interesting location for their distillery, which is situated in the small village of Miyada 798 metres above sea level, high up in the Japanese Alps in Nagano.

The company had actually acquired a licence to produce whisky as early as in 1949 and after briefly producing it in Kagoshima, began to search for the perfect whisky-making spot. Kagoshima, after all, situated on the southeast corner of Kyushu, isn’t the most natural spot in the world to make whisky. Rather more adequate are the colder northern districts, with their moderate levels of humidity and high quality water, and it was to this area that the company looked.