By TAKESHI NAKASHIMA/ Staff Writer
October 20, 2023 at 07:30 JST
MIYAKONOJO, Miyazaki Prefecture--A barley-based shochu called Aokage from a local distiller won the top President’s prize in the quality shochu and “awamori” Okinawan-style liquor category of the 2023 Kura Master competition in France.
The award made Yanagita Distillery Co. the first maker in Miyazaki Prefecture to scoop top honors in the annual competition.
“It is an honor and an encouragement for us to be picked out by French judges,” said Tadashi Yanagita, 50, president of the Yanagita Distillery, which began selling its products overseas in 2015.
Kura Master took off in 2017 as a Japanese rice wine competition for French fans. The shochu and awamori category was added in 2021.
Aokage was selected for the Judge’s award last year. It has the distinction of winning awards for two years straight.
Connoisseurs, including a bartender, were tasked with sampling 187 bottles.
Aokage was described in the review by the chief judge as “a particularly aromatic shochu boasting a fascinating complexity.”
With 25-percent alcoholic content, the shochu has a distinctive bread-like flavor and a lingering aftertaste.
In the hope of “competing on the same stage as other spirits,” Yanagita Distillery said it developed an overseas version with a proof content of 41 percent alcohol by volume to achieve an “aftertaste that lasts much longer and is more powerful.”
When the chief judge visited Miyazaki Prefecture following Aokage’s first entry last year, Yanagita Distillery sought the connoisseur’s views on the appeal of the bottle.
As a result, the distiller made the product’s bitter taste stronger, drawing high praise.
Yanagita Distillery exports to 13 countries and regions, including France and the United States.
“Our ultimate goal is to get consumers to view it as cool to sip 25-percent shochu in ‘kurojoka’” traditional local ceramic cups, said Yanagita. “We have high hopes that Aokage will play a part for shochu to be recognized as a world-class distilled beverage at some point.”
Sales of the award-winning 41-percent Aokage in 750-milliliter bottles started in September on a limited scale. Only 900 bottles are available for 2,500 yen ($16.80) each, including tax, at shops in Miyakonojo and elsewhere.
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Tadashi Yanagita, president of Yanagita Distillery Co., displays a bottle of Aokage on Sept. 15 in Miyakonojo, Miyazaki Prefecture, after it won the top prize in a French sake contest. (Takeshi Nakashima)
