Brand: Zuisen Hakuryu Awamori (瑞泉 白龍)
Distillery: Zuisen Distillery, Co. Ltd.
Location: Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan
Grain: 100% aged indica (Thai) rice
koji: Okinawa black
alcohol content: 25.9% (51.8 proof)
price: $$$
Tasting Notes
Zuisen is perhaps the largest distiller of Awamori in Okinawa. This Hakuryu represents their entry level Awamori, though they have domestic varieties that are aged for more than 20 years. Like all Awamori, this represents a full flavored spirit with a great deal of complexity. These spirits are difficult to place flavor-wise and only a molasses palate steps to the front among familiar flavors with Zuisen. Unlike other Awamori available in the U.S. this one is quite balanced. Not necessarily smooth, but mellow for the style.
As with all Awamori, Zuisen ages exceptionally well if stored in a clay jar for a few weeks to months. The flavors mellow further and the nose shifts from strange and exotic to something much closer to a nice rich imo shochu.
The Verdict: Recommended
This is a mild Awamori as they go, which means its still quite a bit more flavorful than other types of shochu. This may be a nice introduction to Awamori for those who have discovered shochu and want to explore its diversity. As with all Awamori, this is probably not a spirit to make cocktails with (which won’t keep us from trying), but it is a nice drink on the rocks or with water.
Kampai!
[…] around the perimeter of the high ceilinged space where we tried old favorites such as iichiko, Zuisen, Jinkoo, and Kappa No Saisomizu, but were also introduced to a new distillery – Komasa Jyozo from […]
[…] DISTILLERY ・Zuisen Hakuryu – A well balanced Awamori. Oh how I wish more Awamori were […]
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Jidai Kurahachi, with its lovely rice paper label, is an uncompromising rice shochu, foregoing the smooth light taste that many kome shochu strive for while attempting to deliver a robust, rich taste using black koji and clay pot aging. It was worth the effort.
This Awamori is a fine example of the spirit. It has a strong herbal nose that is very rich on the palate. The strong herbal flavor subsides into a moderate licorice or anise flavor before settling into a smooth neutral finish. It has a warm, earthy mouthfeel that’s not at all unexpected from the herbal scent. It’s hard to place the taste beyond herbal, except that it tastes quite a bit like a lighter version of the Taiwanese & Chinese spirit, Kaoliang, a sorghum spirit that’s a much higher alcohol content than most Awamori.
Akaoni with its striking red label on a clear frosted bottle with a silver foil topper certainly catches the eye. It is one of several mugi shochus from this distiller and from what I can gather is targeted toward a more mellow drinking experience. It doesn’t disappoint. It was a hit at a recent tasting. Smooth, delicious.
There are not many junmai kuma-shochus available in the U.S. market. These are shochus made with polished Japanese rice, the same polishing process used in sake (nihon-shu) production. “Junmai” refers to rice that’s been polished at least 70% (30% of the outer grain removed). Hakutake Shiro is made with rice polished to 60%. Only kome shochus produced in the Kuma River Valley can be designated as “kuma-shochu”.
Hee no Tori, the “Firebird”, has been sitting on my shelf for almost a year. This bottle is likely the only bottle I’ll ever have since it’s not imported to the US and was made as an experiment by a sake brewery from a non-shochu making region of Japan. As a testament to how popular shochu has become, many sake breweries have been doing this.
This my favorite Awamori. I drink some almost every week, either straight, chilled (hana-brie) or de roku (yuk-hie.)
Chip.
Jochen Erler ernstjochenerler@gmail.com
Journalist and Wine Consultant
Uferstraße 76, Top7
6020 Innsbruck
AUSTRIA
Dear Ms Hinano Kinjo,
first let me thank you for the tasting, my first visit of a Sake distillery. I already had learned something about Sake at promotional tastings, at London Wine Trade Fair, Prowein or VINEXPO, and especially in a Japanese Bar in London that specializes in Sake wine and spirits. Now I learned about Amawori, a product made with a special yeast. I consider your 18-year old product much superior to the 10-year old and suggest to submit it to a spirits competition organized by “Selection”, a German wine & food magazine with a circulation of 60.000 in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. I am one of the tasters there and can assure you that the high circulation of this magazine promises a good impact on consumers and trade in the German speaking part of Europe, an impact probably better than the other spirits contests experienced by me in England, South Africa, Austria and Germany.
I have given your email address to the organizer of the competition. He will send you the invitation and conditions for participation.
I hope to find your excellent Kusu among the award winners in the future.
Best regards
Jochen Erler cc. Selection
got my hands on some of this and at first i thought it was going to be week like 12 maybe 14% but when bottle said 40 abv this is more like a hard liquor. but with the bajablast mtn dew as a mixer its good rilly good i like this.