low pressure distillation

Tantakatan

June 7, 2016 by Stephen 7 Comments

Tantakatan is an easy drinking shochu with distinct shiso notes and aromas, though it also carries a bit of seaweed funk in the nose. It's not as strongly shiso-flavored as you get form a shiso-infused shochu (Uminoie in NYC makes it in-house if you're ever hoping to try).

Iki Shochu Journey: Omoya Shuzo

July 7, 2014 by Stephen 1 Comment

Arriving under threat of rain (June is rainy season in Japan), but not typhoon conditions, the first stop in Iki was the smallest distillery in Iki, Omoya Shuzo. Just 11 shochu producers currently exist in Iki and Omoya-san is the only tezukuri (handmade) distillery left on the island. Due to the demand for the light, clean flavors and aromas of barley shochu throughout Japan, handmade production is not always possible.

Soba Shochu: Kagura No Mai

November 21, 2013 by Stephen Leave a Comment

Kagura no Mai, with its plain black and white label with abstract drawings of village life, doesn't shout from you off the shelf. Nor does is grab you out of the glass. It's light and clean with the forward aromas of sake yeast. This leads me to believe it's a low pressure distillate and that the distillery has chosen to use a traditional sake yeast rather than one of the more neutral shochu yeasts.

Mizunomai

September 3, 2013 by Stephen Leave a Comment

Mizunomai (Mizu for short) is a high proof barley shochu that was developed for the global market. Extensive taste testing with customers and bartenders throughout Japan, the US, and other Asian countries yielded this blend as the most popular all without compromising the artisinal qualities that make this class of spirits so unique.

Kougin No Sasayaki

February 5, 2013 by Stephen 5 Comments

"Made with pure water long loved by the fireflies." This is the statement Kougin No Sasayaki uses to try to draw you in. For me it evokes a riverside on a summer evening with fireflies flitting about as children chase them and adults clean up after the picnic. Hard to imagine shochu at a picnic, but I suppose on the banks of the Bansho River in Kyushu (where 90% of shochu is made and consumed), that's exactly what you'd find.

Window’s Migaki

December 3, 2012 by Stephen 3 Comments

The first thing you notice about Window's Migaki and its sister shochu Window's Mugiichi is the "window" of the bottle with artwork by artist Ichiro Tsuruta. Our photo doesn't really do this artwork justice (her face isn't crooked). Don't let the pretty packaging fool you (with many wines the artistry of the label is directly inversely related to the quality of the product inside). Window's Migaki is a barrel aged barley shochu (Mugiichi is this same shochu unaged) of the highest quality.