Taiko no Kuro Usagi : brown sugar shochu

 

• Name: Taiko no Kuro Usagi
• Type: Brown sugar shochu
• Origin:  Kagoshima prefecture, Amami-shi
• Distiller: Yayoi Shochu
• ABV: 25%
• Price: about 1700 yen

 This rabbit is a tricky critter, to the point that I twice made the way to Okachimachi’s Takeya department store to buy it again. Fact is, I enjoyed it at first sip, but I just couldn’t wrap my head around it. Let’s draw the first lines about what’s in the bottle to delimit the whereabouts of this black rabbit (Kuro usagi means black rabbit, hence the critter reference up there): this is a brown sugar shochu produced in the Amami islands, the sole officially acknowledged homeland of this kind of spirit. The company distilling Kuro Usagi started out as both a shochu and awamori producer, which probably explains the 30% ABV (customary for awamori) they still use for two of their main brands, Yayoi and Mankoi. This 25% ABV kiddo seems to be the underdog of the line-up though, apparently unassuming, it has quite a few aces up its sleeve.

With brown sugar shochu you can expect something akin to a parallel-world-rum, the same feeling you sometimes have in dreams: things appear familiar but are in fact radically different from what you already know. Here you have the swings between sweetness and chewy bitterness expected from sugar cane spirits but, this notwithstanding, when tasted straight I couldn’t stop thinking: MALT. Oh Lord, has that expired natto messed up my taste buds for good?

It is a lingering hint, but it really reminds me of young Speyside honey, plus the smokiness claimed by the producers really shows up inside the bottle, it is not the kind of flavor you can only pick up by reading the label. In a subdued, discreet form, medicinal smokiness lingers in the background, like an eerie, minor character in a David Lynch movie.

What really wraps everything together though is the citrusy bitterness of orange peel, which keeps on standing strong all the way through the ordeal of the soda+ice dilution which we have come to know as highball. As it often happens, the highball frame puts all the elements into a tidier and more easily drinkable order, though unfortunately the smokiness fades away in the background.

Throughout all this, vanilla is the wallflower of the party, which makes me think we are dealing with reasonably young oak casks. Anyway, Japanese companies are, as usual, stingy when it comes to information about the production process: Yayoy distillery’s web store only states that this was aged five years in unspecified wooden casks. Also, the shochu is called Black Rabbit, but white koji was used in the making of it, this is quite a twist in the plot...

ザ　ブレイクダウン    

Not only is this a very pleasant drink, but it is also interesting enough to become a repeat buy. The reasonable price doesn't hurt either, so i came to appreciate having a black rabbit hopping around the house.

Vote: 4  + 1 + 2 = 7

Kuro Tanabata - Sweet potato shochu

 

• Name: Kuro Tanabata
• Type: Sweet potato shochu
• Origin:  Kagoshima prefecture, Ichiki-Kushikino
• Distiller: Tasaki Shuzo
• ABV: 25%
• Price: about 1500 yen

For those who have never visited the land of the rising hangover, I think it is worth keeping in mind that shochu is hardly ever served straight. The usual options Japanese drinking holes (they call them izakaya here, but I think drinking hole could be a suitable translation: drinking holes with good food) give you are either on the rocks or mixed with mineral, soda or hot water. If you get used to drinking hot water shochu regularly you can apply for Japanese citizenship under the ‘Drunken Oji-san Protection Act’ of 2016. Good luck with that, you have my support.　

Of course, shochu can also be mixed with tea or soft drinks, but that fate is usually destined for the crappy 40% ABV cheap boozy ammo. This notwithstanding, I think that drinking shochu straight is the most interesting option for the spirit-curious: without any dilution all the flavours are cranked up to 11 and the relatively low alcohol content will spare you severe tongue burn, thus making it is easier to assess what kind of genie actually came out of the bottle.

 Trying this Kuro Tanabata straight was quite a roller-coaster ride: it smells rich and bourbony, with some dried dates or fruits giving it a sturdy body. Keep in mind that this is sweet potato shochu, usually fruity and sweet, but the black koji here seems to override everything and bring in extra thickness and brunt (as a rule of thumb: if you see the world kuro in the shochu’s name, it is very likely that black koji has been used in the production process. Kuro means black in Japanese). The mouthfeel is chewy, if not oily and somewhat salty: pickled olives come to mind sometimes. In the end a bitterness close to dark chocolate comes up and fits well in the picture, though the flavors are a little bit all over the place. Even for imo shochu standards this one has a very dry afterglow in the mouth. I think I also picked up oregano in the ending but I may be worryingly delusional on this one.

After all these unexpected twists and turns, trying this black Tanabata in a highball puts everything back into a more reasonable frame: it is a pleasant potato shochu with a very pronounced bitter edge, which makes for a good variation from the average.

The maker’s website doesn’t offer specific information about the aging process, though it shows pictures of both clay pots and wood casks. We are left to argue, though I suggest leaving the arguing to spirit geeks and concentrating on the imbibing.

ザ　ブレイクダウン    

In the end I would say this is not likely to become a staple of my nightcap arsenal, but it is good to have such an interesting and challenging alternative on offer in the budget price range. I will definitely try it again, though not necessarily in the near future.

Vote: 3,5  + 1 + 1 = 5,5

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