Name: 吉助 Kichisuke
Type: 芋麹焼酎 Potato Koji shōchū
Potato: ムラサキマサリ Purple Sweet Potato
Ingredients: 芋こうじ, さつまいも(九州産)Potato Koji, Sweet Potato
Alcohol: 25%
Distillery: 霧島酒造 Kirishima Shuzo
Address: 885-0093 Miyazaki, Miyakonojo, Shibitacho
Website: https://www.kirishima.co.jp/products/imo/kichisuke-aka/
Additional Content: There is a short vintage (2011) introduction to Kirishima distillery, it's only in Japanese but still quite interesting.
About Kichisuke (Distillery website)
Potato malt shōchū made with 100% carefully selected sweet potatoes. A refined sake with the original taste and aroma of potatoes. “Imo-koji shōchū kichisuke (red)” has a rich sweetness and fragrance from “Murasaki Masari”. It is a taste "Graceful" that feels noble and elegant taste.
Enjoy on the rocks
In the bottle: Overall, very neutral with hints of sweetness and potato, a cooling alcohol scent dominates but is not overpowering.
On the rocks: This is a really unique tasking potato shōchū, and the flavor profile is completely different from other potato shōchū made with rice koji. At first, there is a slight sweetness and earthy potato flavor that prickles the tongue that pleasantly lingers and the finish has a black pepper feel with residual spiciness in the throat.
水割り Diluted with water
4:1, 3:2 ratio, a slight dilution with water weakens the prickly feeling on the tongue while keeping the sweetness and earthy potato, the peppery finish fades slightly but is still present.
2:3 ratio, at the higher ratios, the strong and impactful flavors fade; however, the unique potato shōchū flavor remains, just not as strong as on the rocks.
Reflections on this shōchū
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I have had Akakirishima at many Izakaya and while it is nothing spectacular, it is a decent shochu, and when I recently saw a set with three bottles from Kirishima distillery, it seemed like a good chance to explore some of their other offerings.
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In the end, it was an interesting bottle and one that is worth trying if you are looking for a 100% potato shōchū.
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In some ways, this reminds me of smokey Scotch, not in the taste (obviously) but in that "the first glass is nice but I am not interested in a second one", don't get me wrong, the first glass is good but just doesn't entice me to have a second one.
How I came across this bottle:
For some reason, I never noticed this set of three 100% potato shōchū from Kirishima, maybe because it was tucked away in the corner on the top shelf, maybe it was the shape of the bottle, either way it avoided my attention for quite some time. At some point I will try the other two bottles (Black and White).
Bottle label and Information
Front Label
吉助
Kichisuke
Potato Koji shōchū
Cap Label
Back Label
◆ 100% Murasaki Masari sweet potato shōchū from Kyushu,◆
"Imo-koji shochu" is made with 100% sweet potatoes.
Refined shochu with the original taste and aroma of potatoes. "Imo-koji shōchū Kichisuke (red) has a rich sweetness and aroma from Murasaki Masari. It is a taste that is reminiscent of "GRACEFUL" with a noble and elegant taste.
Ingredients, alcohol, warning label and Kirishima distillery address
