Hombo Shuzo, the company behind Mars Distillery, produces many kinds of alcoholic beverages at various places in Japan, including wine. It is therefore quite surprising how long it took them to conjure the idea to finish their whiskies using ex-red wine casks from their Chateau Mars winery in neighbouring Yamanashi prefecture. For their first project in this field, they decided to use their blended whisky ‘Iwai Tradition’ and finish it for over the course of a year in ex-red wine casks. Thank God they eventually did, as we think it turned out rather well.