Distillery: 常楽酒造 Joraku Shuzo
Address: 2577-13 Takeshi, Nishiki-cho, Kuma-gun, Kumamoto
Website: https://joraku.co.jp/
Additional Content: Great explanation of the techniques used to produce Joraku's rice, wheat and potato shōchū, its only in Japanese but translates well with the auto-translation feature on google.
Name: 黒麹極一滴 Kurokōji Kyoku Itteki
Type: さつま芋 Sweet Potato shōchū
Potato: 黄金千貫 Kogane Sengen
Ingredients:
-
さつま芋（鹿児島産） Sweet Potato (Kagoshima)
-
米黒麹（国内産） Black Rice Koji (Domestic)
Alcohol: 25%
Enjoy straight or on the rocks
In the bottle: The initial aroma of this shōchū is really smooth and enjoyable, albeit a bit on the neutral side, which really gives a clean and fresh feeling. There are also some nice hints of sweet potato and a general sweetness that doesn't go too far in any specific direction. Overall, Kurokōji Kyoku Itteki while soft on the nose, it is clear what is in the bottle is something to savor.
On the rocks: Nice, smooth and slightly rounded sweet potato shōchū notes dominate at first before giving way to a softer set of sweet tones that come pouring in with varying levels of intensity. The positive is that this bottle never gets overly sweet and mellows really quickly once the ice melts. Kurokōji Kyoku Ittek really feels like something that would be better neat in the glass, which is next on the try list.
Straight: This is a really mellow shōchū, and enjoying this neat in the glass definitely keeps the flavors front and center, with a nice sweetness that pleasantly lingers on the finish. While this does not add a lot to the flavor profile, it certainly fits well on this relatively cool Taiwan night.
水割り Diluted with water
4:1, 3:2, 2:3 ratio: Unfortunately, this shōchū does not hold up when diluted, especial at the higher ratios, while not bad, it does lose the majority of that potato shōchū taste.
Reflections on this shōchū
-
Perfect for a souvenir, nice wooden box/label and the paper wrapped bottle really gives a unique feel to this refined bottle of shōchū.
-
The aroma and taste mellows quite quickly with water or ice, and is not as intense as other potato shōchū, which may be good for those that do not like a strong flavors.
-
While the taste does not linger, you can feel the quality of the ingredients and effort that went into making it, also it is a very clean taste with no headache the next day even after drinking a bit more than normal.
-
Because this is a "duty free" limited edition offering, it is hard to find a lot of information on this release, even on the distillers website.
Bottle label and Information
Box Label
Name: 蔵座幸一 黒麹無濾過薄にごり Kuraza
Type: 芋焼酎 Potato shōchū
Potato: さつまいも（鹿児島産）Satsuma (Kagoshima)
Ingredients:
-
さつま芋（鹿児島産） Sweet Potato (Kagoshima)
-
米黒麹（国内産） Black Rice Koji (Domestic)
Alcohol: 25%
Enjoy Straight or on-the-rocks
In the bottle: That 42% really makes its presence felt straight away, not in a garish way but it lets you know it is there; once you get past that, there are some really beautiful sweet potato notes to enjoy. As this opens up, you can find some great floral vapors, with lavender and honeysuckle leading the way which gives a lot of promise for what is in the bottle.
On the rocks: The ice and little bit of water really bring the floral notes to the surface which gives Kuzura Hatsudare a subtle bit of bitterness at the start, which adds a nice balance to some of the sweeter flavors that start to develop as the ice melts a bit more. As this mellows a bit you can find a little vanilla and cocoa as well as some of the stronger sweet potato vibes that come on toward the end. With a high alcohol content (42%) you would expect a bit more bit but the alcohol does not get in the way and does a great job of carrying some of the softer flavors through to the finish.
Straight: Absolutely intense in the best possible way, Kuraza Hatsudare hits the tongue with an explosion of sweet potato and floral notes that ebb and flow into a truly exceptional finish. At 42% you would expect a bit more burn, but this is just so smooth, that you would be hard pressed to notice unless you have a few glasses. Additionally, the alcohol does a great job to carry the floral notes of lavender and honeysuckle that linger nicely on the finish, while not cheap this was an exceptional bottle that shows exactly
Reflections on this shōchū
-
Really nice packaging and style for this higher-end bottle, overall, very much the full package and certainly a good gift for the shochu lover in your life.
-
This was a high-impact potato shochu and was an excellent experience both on-the-rocks and neat in the glass.
-
I have two more bottles from this set, so very much looking forward to opening these up and seeing where we go from here.
Bottle label and Information
Front Label
Back Label
