Name: 山翡翠 Yamahisui (Mountain Kingfisher bird)
Type: 米焼酎 Rice shōchū
Rice: 米（はなかぐら）
Ingredients: 米、米麹（はなかぐら） Rice, Rice Koji (Hanakagura)
Alcohol: 25%
Distillery: 尾鈴山蒸留所 Osuzuyama Distillery
Address: 28-2 Tamachi, Hitoyoshi City, Kumamoto Prefecture
Website: https://osuzuyama.co.jp/en/
Additional Content: None that I can find at this moment
About Yamahisui (Distillery website)
It has a faint sweetness derived from rice, a fruity and refreshing scent, and a gentle vanilla scent due to aging. It is moderately thick and has a well-balanced taste.
In the bottle: Soft and not overpowering, there is a hint of the rice and a slight tinge of alcohol, overall very neutral.
On the rocks: Excellent, just a beautiful toasted rice and vanilla caramel taste that is rich and spreads nicely on the palate, the aroma is quite light with a hint of sweetness, the alcohol is on the finish is not overpowering.
水割り Diluted with water
4:1, 3:2 ratio: In these ratios the toasted rice flavor really opens ups and a slight vanilla flavor lingers on the palate is nice and smooth
2:3 ratio: The toasted rice is mellowed and it loses the overall sweetness of the vanilla caramel, not bad but not preferred.
Enjoy on the rocks
Reflections on this shōchū
-
A wonderfully rich rice shōchū with some beautiful toasted rice and vanilla caramel notes that mellows nicely as the ice melts.
-
A high-quality shōchū at a mid-range price point makes this a value buy.
-
I like the labeling on this bottle, the kanji has a nice style and matches nicely with the other Osuzuyama potato and wheat shōchū
-
This is my first experience with shōchū from Osuzuyama and I can't wait to try the other two bottles of potato shōchū that I have waiting in the wings.
How I came across this bottle:
I saw this bottle many times and the local bottle shop and passed it over many times and finally decided to give it a go and it was definitely worth it from taste and cost performance perspective (1400 JPY). Also, I enjoyed learning about the Osuzuyama distillery and some of the other bottles they offer, so more to explore with this distillery.
Bottle label and Information
Front Label
Top Label
Osuzuyama [Yamahisui]
Pure rice shōchū
Distillery address
Back Label Translation
Osuzuyama [Yamahisui] Rice
Osuzuyama Distillery, located deep in the mountains where water springs from the ground.
The distillery was built in a secluded area abundant with high-quality water and surrounded by forest trees, deep in the mountains, which are said to contain more than 30 large and small waterfalls on Mount Osuzu. The ingredients are carefully cultivated and harvested by local and contracted farmers.
