| Yaetsubaki : Hachijojima Shuzo |
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It is not very well known that shochu has been produced on the Izu Islands from long ago. Hachijojima Island, where the distillery is located, has a population of just under 10,000 people. Its warm climate and bounteous natural environment, with bird-of-paradise flowers, freesias and yaetsubaki (double-flowered camellia), belies the fact that it falls under the Tokyo Metropolitan District. There are five distilleries making shochu on the island, all of them on a small scale.
A small, one-man operation run by Mr. Okuyama, Hachijojima Shuzo was established in the 1920s, making it the oldest distillery on the island. Continuing the old-style flavor of the island, Yaetsubaki is the most charming of its products. A blend of imo-shochu and mugi-shochu, the latter is added to soften the distinctive aroma of imo-shochu, injecting the aroma of grain from the mugi-shochu to the subtle body of the imo-shochu.
The imo-shochu of the Izu Islands is characterized by the fact that it has traditionally used barley. The flavor given by the imo-shochu or the blend made using mugi koji (malted barley) fermentation is part of the history of shochu on the island and is completely different from the imo-shochu made in Kyushu. Best enjoyed with the fresh fish of Hachijojima Island and muroaji (a fish called round scad) or kusaya (dried horse-scad mackerel or flying fish soaked in a special fermented brine). |
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| Yaetsubaki (Imo-Shochu, 25% alcohol) |
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| Mugi-Shochu blended with some imo-shochu - a taste found only on the Izu Islands. The grain aroma of barley can be enjoyed with the subtle body of the imo-shochu. A unique flavor not to be found in the brands of shochu made in Kyushu. |
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| Shimanagashi (Imo-Shochu, 35% alcohol) |
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| An example of imo-shochu with some mugi-shochu blended in. The heaviness and the flavor suggestive of aging is unique to the Izu Islands and is not found in imo-shochu from Kagoshima. This may be the embodiment of how imo-shochu tasted in times long since past. |
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| Ipponzuri (Mugi-Shochu, 25% alcohol) |
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| The mellow aroma of barley with a bold flavor suggestive of a mature shochu. |
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