Rumours of Mars's death have been greatly exaggerated

One of the two Shinshu stills

The Shinshu distillery in Nagano prefecture, owned by Hombo spirits and home of the "Mars Whisky" brand, has not distilled whisky since 1992. The last time Nonjatta reported on this rather sad story, the whole place seemed to be slipping into the history books, with one of the two stills too damaged to operate safely and stocks dwindling.

Well, I have just heard from Kawaida san at Hombo's HQ that they are repairing the stills and plan to start distillation again next year! I am trying to find out a bit more about this and exactly what sort of an operation they plan to run, but this is good news indeed!

Update 17.7.2010: More on Martian life
Update 13.12.2010: Shinshu to reopen in February