Mars Shinshu Distillery Visit Reviews[photos]-Komagatake (Hombo Shuzo)
※当サイトには広告・アフィリエイトリンクが含まれています。
We went to visit Mars Shinshu Distillery, famous for Komagatake whisky.
Even though it’s not far from Kansai, we hadn’t managed to go, but this time — on the way? to driving to Miyagikyo Distillery — we went to Mars Shinshu Distillery by car.
We enjoyed the free tour, the bar, and buying souvenirs.
Here’s our visit.
※For the latest information on English tours and whisky, please check the distillery’s official website.
スポンサーリンク
目次
How Do You Get to Mars Shinshu Distillery?
For Mars Shinshu Distillery, it’s a taxi from the nearest station.
We went by car and made one of us the driver.
It was about 5 minutes from Komagane IC, so it was very easy to reach by car.
There’s also a place like a roadside station nearby, which we stopped at on the way back.
There was also an area nearby with a cluster of restaurants and so on.
-
Access
Train: On the JR Iida Line, get off at “Komagane Station” or “Miyada Station,” then about 10 minutes by taxi
Car: About 5 minutes from “Komagane IC” on the “Chuo Expressway”
Mars Shinshu Distillery’s Exterior Is Cool!
When we went, the parking lot was relatively large and an open space too. There’s a wide parking area on the left side of the photo above.
There were casks in the wide part of the parking lot too, so I thought it would be really nice for someone with a cool car to take a photo with their own car alongside them!
スポンサーリンク
The Mars Shinshu Distillery Tour Is Self-Guided
We booked the tour in advance from the website.
There weren’t that many people, so we could go in earlier than our booked time.
You go in, check in, and get tags for those drinking and those not drinking.
The tour is self-guided, so at reception they explained where things are.
▲ Walking to the distillery. The distillery itself isn’t that big, but we savored the lovely scenery.
▲ Into the distillery
▲ You can see the casks, pot stills, and so on.
▲ Inside, we could watch a Mars Shinshu Distillery video.
▲ I love this mark at the very back.
I thought I’d love them to do guided tours going forward too.
Paid Tasting at the Bar
After the tour, we did a paid tasting at the bar.
The tasting is up to three glasses per person, once a day.
▲ There are lots of whiskies on display, and just looking is exciting.
▲ We tasted in the cozy space at the very back.
This time, since Nick was the driver and Mariko drank, I mainly drank things I hadn’t had at home.
When we went to Tsunuki Distillery before, we had some quite rare whiskies, so these are a choice from among those.
Some of the things on the menu are rare too, but we asked the bar staff about the contents and price of the bottles we were curious about and chose from there.
And what I recommend here is the grape juice.
Nick can’t drink, so he ordered some soft drink — grape juice — and it was so delicious that we bought the same thing at the store too.
We bought it to take home for family, and they were incredibly pleased.
Every time we travel, we look for delicious grape juice, and this was apparently the best ever, so we searched online for whether we could buy it.
It’s grape juice that delicious, so it’s a recommended drink I’d love you to try along with whisky.
スポンサーリンク
Buying Limited-Edition Whiskies at the Mars Shinshu Distillery Store
Finally, we bought limited-edition whiskies at the store.
▲ We bought limited-edition whiskies like this.
There was the Komagatake series too. We went around noon, and I don’t think things sell out that much depending on the time, but earlier is more reassuring, lol.
We also bought a glass.
Summary
Komagatake Distillery isn’t that big a distillery, so you can enjoy it fully in about 1–3 hours, roughly half a day.
My impression was that a lot of people come to buy limited-edition whiskies too.
We heard a new whisky would come in a month later, so we’re saying we’d love to go again, lol.
From Osaka to Nagano is only 5 hours by car!
Incidentally, that day we stayed around Nagano Station.
When you go to Nagano, please do stop by Mars Shinshu Distillery.