Name: ねっか Nekka

Type: 米焼酎 Rice shōchū
常圧蒸留: 減圧蒸留（低温) (Vacuum Distillation)

Ingredients:

米（只見町産米）Rice (Awatami Town)
米麹(只見町産米) Rice Koji (Awatami Town)

Alcohol: 25%

In the bottle: The ingredients list just rice and rice koji, but what comes out of the bottle feels much more like a kasutori shōchū. Strong sake notes pour out as if they were concentrated down to their purest essence—licorice, lychee, and peach all up front and full of sweetness. It gives Nekka the feeling of a smooth, refined sake, just a bit more powerful. In the end, Nekka is beautiful, just like the furusato-esque image on the front of the bottle—it feels like the perfect glass to sip on a hot summer night in the countryside.

On the rocks: Just like on the nose, this is clearly a kasutori shōchū. The sake notes are pure, clean, and full of the typical favorites: licorice, candied fruits, and a little vanilla. At first the sweetness feels a bit thick, but after the ice melts a little Nekka really opens up, giving way to a more balanced shōchū as some sharper notes develop and add character. The result is smooth, layered, and very easy to keep sipping.

Straight: This drinks so much like a condensed sake—all the key flavors are there and very much up front: peach, lychee, licorice, and even a little cocoa. At room temperature the flavors are crystal clear, with a smoothness that makes it a bit on the dangerous side. At 25% alcohol it goes down just a bit too easily, so be wary. A great way to enjoy the refined, sake-like side without any dilution.

Paired with dark chocolate: As with sake, this pairs amazingly well. The chocolate blends with the shōchū to produce a flavor a bit like rum raisin ice cream. I’ve paired a lot of bottles with chocolate, and this is by far one of the best ever. How no dessert makers are using this is still a shock—the sweetness and fruit lift the cocoa into something rich, rounded, and almost dessert-like.

Enjoy Straight or On-the-rocks

Reflections on this shōchū

Picked this up while in Fukushima on business. There was a small shop in the station, and this was one of the two bottles the shop staff recommended—it was a great recommendation.
Nekka is an interesting bottle. It states only rice and koji on the label, but it doesn’t taste like a typical rice shōchū—this is very much like a sake kasu shōchū. In the end it doesn’t matter so much, because what’s in the bottle is delicious: bright, fruity, and clean with those familiar sake notes (peach, lychee, subtle florals) in a smooth, distilled format that’s easy to enjoy slowly.
The sake-like character shines through beautifully—pure, elegant, and refreshing—without feeling heavy or boozy. It’s the kind of shōchū that feels perfect for warm weather or relaxed evenings, and the shop staff clearly knew what they were talking about. A solid, enjoyable find that exceeded expectations for a station-shop pickup. Definitely glad I listened to the recommendation.