Hamada Shuzo (1868) is a group of three distilleries, all located in Kagoshima prefecture. The one we're interested in here is the Denzouingura distillery, a kind of laboratory where future shochu innovations are tested.
This sweet potato shochu (imo shochu) was created to celebrate the distillery's 150th anniversary. It uses a unique technique for maturing sweet potatoes of the Satsuma Imo and Kojuku Imo varieties. The potatoes are left to rest for 2 to 3 months before being cooked, to develop their unique fragrances.
Primary fermentation is carried out using black koji on rice. Then, after fermentation of the sweet potatoes, distillation takes place in a vacuum still.
This very fruity shochu lends itself particularly well to drinking neat, with soda, or in cocktails.
