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white koji

The Enchanted Island – Shima Senryo

August 25, 2016 by Stephen Leave a Comment

The Enchanted Island – Shima SenryoUnique to the US market, Shima Senryo is a blend of white koji and black koji sweet potato shochu. While this blending style can be found more commonly in Japan, this is the only brand currently in the US that uses this unique approach. Blending has an interesting, but incompletely understood history in shochu production, but more and more distilleries are blending intentionally rather than as a way to cover up some off batches.

Filed Under: Shochu, Shochu Reviews Tagged With: atmospheric distillation, black koji, joatsu, Kagoshima, kuro koji, Shima Senryo, shiro koji, shochu, soju, sweet potato, Tanegashima, white koji, Yakushima

Tasting Notes: Taiso Iki Shochu

August 13, 2015 by Bill Gunther Leave a Comment

Tasting Notes: Taiso Iki ShochuTaiso, a relative newcomer to the US market, is a traditional barley shochu in the Iki Island style. Iki shochu is always made with a 2:1 ratio of barley to rice koji.

Filed Under: Shochu, Shochu Reviews Tagged With: atmospheric distillation, barley, Iki, mugi, Nagasaki, review, shiro koji, shochu, white koji

Yamanomori: The Old Man’s Iki Shochu

March 30, 2014 by Stephen 5 Comments

Yamanomori: The Old Man’s Iki ShochuYamanomori is as old school as they come among shochus imported to the U.S. Made using the traditional atmospheric (unpressurized) pot still, black koji to impart a rich earthy undertone, little if any filtration, and the very traditional 2:1 ratio of barley to rice, Yamanomori is a taste from the past. Much richer, bolder, and more exotic than most any other barley shochu that comes to our shores, Yamanomori is unapologetically an "old man's" (oji-san) shochu.

Filed Under: Shochu, Shochu Reviews Tagged With: atmospheric distillation, Iki, joatsu, kuro koji, Nagasaki, review, shiro koji, shochu, white koji, Yamanomori

Soba Shochu: Kagura No Mai

November 21, 2013 by Stephen Leave a Comment

Soba Shochu: Kagura No MaiKagura 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.

Filed Under: Shochu, Shochu Reviews Tagged With: genatsu, Kagura no Mai, low pressure distillation, Miyazaki, review, shiro koji, shochu, soba, white koji

Sweet Potato Shochu: Akamaoh – Red Satan

June 17, 2013 by Stephen 2 Comments

Sweet Potato Shochu: Akamaoh – Red SatanThe name Akamaoh, or Red Devil, coupled with the black label over black bottle would suggest a full bodied sweet potato shochu that would give you the deep funk that Japanese often refer to as "imo kusai" (smelly sweet potatoes). However, Akamaoh, may have a devilish name for a completely different reason. It's so easy drinking, it's dangerous in a "devil made me do it way."

Filed Under: Shochu, Shochu Reviews Tagged With: aged shochu, Akamaoh, clay pot, imo, Inoue Shuzo, Inoue Syuzo, kame, Miyazaki, shiro koji, sweet potato, white koji

Kuratake Surprise

April 6, 2013 by Stephen Leave a Comment

Kuratake SurpriseKuratake surprised me as soon as I opened the bottle. The rich sweet potato aroma and flavor I expect from imo shochus is largely absent from this spirit until you pay attention. It's got a subtle presence, but not the overwhelming sensation you'll get from a traditional Kagoshima style black koji imo shochu like Shiranami Kuro. This shochu takes the experience in a completely different direction.

Filed Under: Shochu, Shochu Reviews Tagged With: imo, Kumamoto, Kuratake, shiro koji, sweet potato, white koji

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Tonight’s the night I finish off the bottle of shochu I received a little over a year ago.

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Shochu Reviews

iichiko Saiten

After winning some awards on the international spirits circuit (including double-gold at the 2020 San Francisco World Spirits Competition), there's ample evidence that iichiko Saiten deserves serious consideration by bartenders everywhere.

Shochu Reviews

Tasting Notes: The SG Shochu KOME

Putting your nose in a glass of The SG Shochu Kome shows you just how complex a vacuum distilled rice shochu can be. Ginjo sake aromas from the yeast, pineapple, melon, and a faint hint of dairy-like lactic acidity are all present.

Tasting Notes: Nankai

Nankai Shochu
At first whiff, Nankai smells faintly grassy, which is common in kokuto shochu owing to how kokuto sugar is made from fresh cut cane and that fresh grassiness is a sign of well made kokuto sugar. Sugar cane is, after all, a tall perennial grass. It is still pretty wild that they can capture that after fermentation and distillation.

iichiko silhouette

This iichiko silhouette is probably the most common Japanese shochu currently available in the United States. In NYC I’ve seen it in random mom & pop liquor stores as the only shochu among a shelf of sake options. It’s most commonly available in 750ml bottles, though I’ve seen other sizes in other countries. This is a great starter shochu, which is why I’ve chosen it for my first tasting note. It was my introduction to shochu back in 2008. I’d had Korean soju before, but Japanese shochu is a strikingly different (and better) experience.

Shochu Reviews

Tasting Notes: Lento Shochu

Lento is the top selling kokuto shochu in Japan, and it is available internationally as well. Try it on the rocks or with sparkling water for a refreshing taste of the Amami Islands. Kanpai!

Tasting Notes: The SG Shochu MUGI

The SG Shochu MUGI Label
The SG Shochu MUGI wraps several barley shochu identities into one. It's lightly barrel-aged and carries the associated sweet notes. But there's also a graininess that is revealed when the temperature of the drink drops. It's a versatile barley shochu that can be enjoyed a variety of ways.

Tasting Notes: The SG Shochu IMO

The SG Shochu IMO is a clear invitation to create the classic imo cocktail. If you get it right, it will resonate and cascade around the world until you can't not have sweet potato shochu on your menu if you consider yourself a proper drinking establishment.

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