Traditional brewing methods and black koji—that is Kuro Isanishiki

Kuro Isanishiki 1800ml 900ml
Kuro Isanishiki 1800ml 900ml

Preserving the black koji heritage.

The process for making the koji uses traditional black koji to give Kuro Isanishiki a luxurious aroma and a smooth mouth feel that still delivers body. Kuro Isanishiki was ahead of the crowd spurring the current boom in black koji spirits.

The use of black koji, as well as temperature regulation and the brewing process, creates subtle differences compared to white koji Isanishiki. In earlier times, all shochu was black koji shochu (a tradition that awamori maintains); however, this involved considerable trials for the distillers. It was difficult to regulate the koji’s temperature and the koji spores would cover the inside of the distillery during manufacturing.

The advent of white koji made temperature regulation easier, offered an ingredient that was simpler to work with, had a less piercing aroma, and delivered a better yield. White koji quickly replaced black koji and has been the mainstay until today.

There was still reluctance, however, to discard the distinctive body, sweet flavor, and other benefits of black koji. By developing production technology (especially temperature regulation), more stable koji-making became possible. Meanwhile, as consumers’ preferences for shochu diversified, a reappraisal of the features of black koji emerged.

Handling Unfiltered Spirits

Handling Unfiltered Spirits
Handling Unfiltered Spirits 1800ml 900m

Kuro Isanishiki (unfiltered) is, as the name implies, completely unfiltered and bottled straight away after distillation in order to capture the flavor as is. Sales are limited (pre-orders only) to the autumn season, as the product is crafted with freshly harvested sweet potatoes from each year’s summer crop.

We eschew the standard filtration process, and this can in some cases create what look like fluffy flakes floating during refrigeration. This does not affect the quality of the shochu.

Also, the unfiltered product may be slightly colored and less than transparent. This also does not affect the quality of the shochu.

Consumers noticing an extremely robust aroma are experiencing the distinctive potato shochu fragrance captured immediately after distillation.

We recommend shaking the bottle well before enjoying the product (in order to sufficiently mix the beverage’s contents).

For best quality, please enjoy the shochu soon after purchase. (Although waiting to open the bottle does not impact the quality of the shochu, the flavor does change with age.)

Kuro Isanishiki Masumasu-hanjo bottle 4,500 ml

Kuro Isanishiki Masumasu-hanjo bottle 4,500 ml
Kuro Isanishiki Masumasu-hanjo bottle 4,500 ml

Sure to last to the end!

We can place your desired text on the neck label of 4.5-liter Extra-Large bottles of Kuro Isanishiki. The text on the label is limited to approximately four characters. Please note that the text size decreases for larger numbers of characters.

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